The FINANCIAL — According to Civil Georgia, a Tbilisi-based TV station, Maestro, will be able to resume political programming on November 17, founder of the TV station, Mamuka Glonti, said on October 13.
He made the announcement after talks with the head of Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC), Giorgi Arveladze, which were mediated by the Anti-Crisis Council.
Maestro TV, which goes out on cable in the capital Tbilisi, as well as in Rustavi, Telavi and Gori, has a license for airing entertainment and music programs.
Early this year Maestro TV, however, also launched three new projects, which dealt mainly with politics – Journalism as a Profession, a talk-show, which hosted invited guest, very often politicians; No Comment – covering news stories through live footage and without commentary; Polling – call-in talk-show, wherein only viewers were speaking live and expressing their views on political matters.
In March, 2008 the TV station received a letter of reprimand from GNCC warning that the station had no right to air political programming, which triggered the Maestro TV to suspend airing those three programs. Then the TV station applied for a licence for political programming. But GNCC refused citing that the television was once already reprimanded. The TV station management said the ruling was unjustified and claimed it was part of the authorities’ attempts to limit political discourse in the broadcast media.
The TV station brought the case in court; late in September the Tbilisi City Court, however, upheld the original ruing by GNCC.
The matter since than has become an issue for the opposition parties; as well as for the parliamentary minority groups, which along with the ruling party are part of the Anti-Crisis Group.
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