Self-regulation
Pursuant to Article 14 of the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting and the Code of Conduct of Broadcasters adopted by the Georgian National Communication Commission (GNCC) in 2009, broadcasters are obliged to establish an efficient complains mechanism for considering customers’ complaints.If a broadcaster breaches the Code of Conduct, apply to us through filling out a provided questionnaire and the Media Development Foundation, MDF will present your complaint in a broadcaster's self-regulation body.
Statements
Statement of Media Development Foundation on P.S. Program
On Sunday, February 12, Rustavi 2’s weekly program P.S. covered a story about poor condition of public toilets installed by the Tbilisi City Hall, which, in our opinion, involved discrimination against Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania on grounds of his geographical origin.
By the end of the story, the program host, Giorgi Gabunia made the following remark in a form of a conclusion:
"Davit Narmania probably forgot that he has been elected as the Mayor of the capital city and he thinks that he is still somewhere in the village, where toilets are built over large holes without any sewerage systems.”
We suppose that the emphasis laid by the host on Davit Narmania’s origin is discriminatory. Drawing similar parallels between the Mayor’s origin and existing problems is in conflict with Article 31 of the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters, according to which broadcasters shall refrain from publishing any material likely to incite hatred or intolerance "on the grounds of geographic location or social background.”