Recommendations for Public Broadcasting on Objective Covering of Presidential Election

The appeal was released on behalf of the media council, journalists and the whole society which called on Public Broadcasting to cover all the events concerning the presidential election in Georgia objectively. The document was released by TV company “Rustavi 2” on November 27. The document contains 12 recommendations. The principal items of the document are:

- According to the objectivity criterion concerning presidential elections, all presidential candidates or their representatives should have an equal amount of time for political debates in news programs or talk shows.
- During the pre-election campaign all TV companies should avoid broadcasting the materials recently issued by the government concerning the possible relation of presidential candidates and their representatives to Russian intelligence officers.
- All TV companies and journalists should not have to release facts which have not been checked and specified in particular when such information provokes and encourages violence and mass disturbances. 
- In case of releasing direct and indirect accusations towards the presidential candidate or his/her political team they will have an opportunity to respond on these accusations through the same broadcasting and talk show. During the preparation process of talk shows the balance between government and opposition should be considered.
- Sociological research of public opinion, including exit polls, should be released if these polls are in accordance with international standards and scientific methodology. The identity of people who ordered the polls and the financial sources should be known to the public and everything should be transparent. It is necessary to discuss the poll in the level of experts and organize pluralistic debates. 
- While making comments on the recommendation document for “Rustavi 2”, Eka Kvesitadze, member of the Media Council and coauthor of the recommendations, stated that the quality of further cooperation between Georgia and the North Atlantic Alliance will depend on the presidential election to be held on January 5 and also on the assessment of the election by the democratic international community

“If we want the international community to consider this election to be free and fair and hold legitimate elections, the Georgian media should have to work objectively and act in a balanced way. Every journalist or the head of informational department should have to take this responsibility,” - said Eka Kvesitadze and herewith gave a remark to “Rustavi 2” because they broadcasted the concert held in the Philharmonic which Mikheil Saakashvili, the presidential candidate, attended  and where he addressed the population live on “Rustavi 2”. 
“According to our recommendation if you are going to give so much time to Saakashvili in your news programs then you will be obliged to give the same opportunities to other presidential candidates,” - Eka Kvesitadze told to the TV presenters of “Rustavi 2”.

According to the journalists, if the heads of the TV companies will consider and respond to these recommendations it would be better because in fact they decide on how to work during the pre-election period and how to protect professional standards.
“It would be perfect to create a council of representatives of civil society and even foreign journalists. We suppose that such a council will monitor and observe how objectively the media cover the pre-election campaign,” - declared Eka Kvesitadze.

According to her a conference with many participants, where the recommendations will be discussed, has been planned for December 1 in the Courtyard Marriot.