Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) is the national public broadcast company in Georgia. The broadcaster airs two television and two radio channels.
Media assets
Television: First Channel, Second Channel
Radio: Georgian Radio, Georgian Radio Music
State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)
Ownership and governance
The main governing authorities of GPB are the Board of Trustees and the Director General. The Board of Trustees appoints the GPB’s Director General through an open competition. The nine members of the Board of Trustees are appointed by Parliament.
Source of funding and budget
GPB is the largest recipient of public funds among all media in Georgia. In 2018, GPB received the largest portion of public money, over GEL 60m (US$ 17m), which is worth nearly 75% of the entire television ad market, according to the latest available data. Legislation regulates the amount of state funding that is allocated to the public media as follows: the state subsidy for GPB should be equal to at least 0.14% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This legal provision is aimed at preventing political interference in the GPB’s affairs as it strips the authorities of the right to approve the public media budget every year. Yet, this form of funding still constitutes state funding as it comes straight from the state budget.
Editorial independence
GPB is required by law to offer balanced editorial coverage. Yet, the broadcaster has been widely criticized for its pro-government bias (for example, for discontinuing talk-shows that were open to opposition). An international media watchdog called GPB “distinctly pro-government.” Cases of censorship at GPB have been documented in recent years.
GPB is required by the Law on Broadcasting to “provide accurate and up-to-date information that is free from political and commercial bias” and “to address the needs and interests of the larger Georgian society through diversity of programs and viewpoints.” These provisions, however, are not respected in practice.
GPB has a so-called Public Board that was established with the goal of representing the interests of the public in GPB. More concretely, GPB Public Board is tasked with studying public concerns regarding the programming at GPB and making recommendations for improvement to the GPB management.
September 2023