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Media Freedom Index Continues to Drop

October 24, 2005

Media Freedom Index Continues to Drop


‘Reporters without Frontiers’ published the results of their research conducted in 2005. The research, which assessed 167 countries, shows that the media freedom index in Georgia is still deteriorating. From 2003 onwards, Georgia dropped from the 73rd place to the 94th and now to the 99th.


Shutting down popular programs, television stations and newspapers is almost becoming an every-day affair in post-revolutionary Georgia. After the Rose Revolution, the Georgian population said good-buy to several political talk-shows and debates programs – “Gamis Kurieri”(“”Night Courier), “Theme”, “Gamis Mzera” (“Night Sight”), “Archevanis Zgvarze” (“At the Edge of Choice”), etc. Repression of the programs was followed by the liquidation of several TV Stations themselves. Eventually, the Georgian government started harassing journalists. The co-founder of TV Company “202” Ramishvili is imprisoned; several journalists, who did not want to lose their independence, lost their jobs.

This practice also spreads to the printing media. The “Main Newspaper”, “Morning Newspaper”, “New Epoch”, “Tribune” were closed down. “Georgian Times” was accused in hiding taxes and in financial machinations.
All of this shows that post-revolutionary Georgia is trying to pressurize the media. The owners of media organizations prefer to follow the “recommendations” of the government, rather than being imprisoned.

Meanwhile, international organizations objectively observe all the processes, taking place in our country. The objective “law-court” estimating the current events of our country passes a not so enviable sentence – Georgia steps back to the 99th and moves far away from the prospect of democratic development. 

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