Appeal made by the staff of the Georgian Public Broadcaster to Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.
For the record, the draft law amending the Public Broadcaster’s funding model, adopted by the Parliament of Georgia in the first reading, completely changes the status of the Public Broadcaster and, in fact, abolishes the institution.
This funding rule does not align with the funding model of any public broadcaster in Europe and, contrarily, starkly contradicts the underlying principle of funding public service broadcasters as a whole. In his concluding commentaries, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Director General Noel Curran expressed concern that this legislation will result in the dismantling of Georgia’s public broadcasting system, a view we fully endorse.
Mr. Chairman of the Parliament, in light of the peril confronting Public Broadcasting as an institution, the employees of GPB implore you to convene with us prior to the ultimate enactment of the legislation and heed our viewpoint.