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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.
Success stories
MDF, Identoba, LGBT Georgia, TDI, GDI vs. Imedi TV
Complaint: On March 20 a news program "Kronika at 2pm” on Imedi TV aired a story titled "A member of the LGBT community accused of fraud.”
On March 30, 2016, a group of non-governmental organizations – Media Development Foundation (MDF), Identoba, LGBT Georgia, Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) and Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) initiated a complaint to the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV demanding it to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters by the TV channel.
The authors of the complaint suppose that although the content of the topic has nothing to do with the identity of a person and the latter’s belonging to this or that group, the anchor of the news program and the journalist made an unfounded generalization of the crime fact and associated it with the LGBT community.
The applicants believe that by such coverage the TV channel promoted the stereotypization of the LGBT community. Just therefore, they applied to the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV and demanded it to investigate the fact of violating ethical standards of media coverage of diversity issues, in particular article 31 and article 33 (1; 2; 4) of the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters.
Decision: On April 20, the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV held a hearing on the complaint filed by the NGOs. The representatives of the Self-Regulatory Body said that Imedi TV had no intention to infringe the interests of the LGBT community. They, however, shared the NGOs’ position and noted that a wrongdoing really took place when airing the story titled "A member of the LGBT community accused of fraud” by Imedi TV and thus, the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters was violated. The Self-Regulatory Body will release its justified decision in the coming days.
On March 30, 2016, a group of non-governmental organizations – Media Development Foundation (MDF), Identoba, LGBT Georgia, Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) and Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) initiated a complaint to the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV demanding it to investigate the violation of the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters by the TV channel.
The authors of the complaint suppose that although the content of the topic has nothing to do with the identity of a person and the latter’s belonging to this or that group, the anchor of the news program and the journalist made an unfounded generalization of the crime fact and associated it with the LGBT community.
The applicants believe that by such coverage the TV channel promoted the stereotypization of the LGBT community. Just therefore, they applied to the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV and demanded it to investigate the fact of violating ethical standards of media coverage of diversity issues, in particular article 31 and article 33 (1; 2; 4) of the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters.
Decision: On April 20, the Self-Regulatory Body of Imedi TV held a hearing on the complaint filed by the NGOs. The representatives of the Self-Regulatory Body said that Imedi TV had no intention to infringe the interests of the LGBT community. They, however, shared the NGOs’ position and noted that a wrongdoing really took place when airing the story titled "A member of the LGBT community accused of fraud” by Imedi TV and thus, the Code of Conduct for Broadcasters was violated. The Self-Regulatory Body will release its justified decision in the coming days.
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