Political Advertisements Are No Longer Aired by TV-Companies – Periodic Report of the Human Rights Center’s Media-Monitoring

Elene Chumburidze

On October 16, Human Rights Center held press-conference “Media Monitoring of Parliamentary Elections” in the hotel Tbilisi Marriott and presented results of the monitoring period September 10-October 7.

Media-monitors of the Human Rights Center are monitoring surreptitious political, social and paid political advertisements on following TV channels: Public Broadcaster, Imedi, Rustavi 2, Kavkasia, Maestro and 9th Channel.

In accordance to the report, qualified election subjects were covered most unequally on Rustavi 2 and Imedi. Most time of these TV-Companies was dedicated to the political advertisements of the National Movement. Besides that, big time was spent on anti-advertisements about Coalition Georgian Dream.

This period of monitoring was singled out by the fact that after elections no political advertisements were aired on TV-Channels. Political parties stopped placing funded political advertisements though election process did not finish after October 1 – controversy continued in District Election Commissions and Central Election Commission, as well as in the courts. Elections were repeatedly held in several polling stations.

Several advertisements, with assumed social status, were also aired by TV-Channels in the report period. However, sings of hidden political advertisement were detected in them. For example, clip prepared by Defense Ministry demonstrates promises to soldiers and their family members. Similar advertisements were frequently aired by TV-Companies in the first period of media-monitoring before election subjects placed their political advertisements on TV-Channels. After the Parliamentary Elections of October 1, those advertisements were no longer aired by TV-Companies that increased doubt that purpose of social ads was to advertise the government and activities of the ruling party.

Media Monitoring of Parliamentary Elections is implemented by financial support of International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) under the framework of four-year project Increased Trust in Electoral Process (ITEP) financed by USAID (US Agency for International Development).