OSCE/ODIHR: GPB was mostly positive or neutral in tone in its coverage of all contestants
“In its coverage of all contestants, the public broadcaster GPB was mostly positive or neutral in tone (89 per cent), but the majority of its campaign coverage was allocated to GD (61 per cent). As representatives of most opposition parties declined participation in the only debate aired on GPB, no debate occurred between the ruling parties and major opposition,” states the OSCE/ODIHR final report on the October 26 parliamentary elections in Georgia.
“Most TV stations dedicated the majority of campaign coverage in news to GD. The tone on commercial TV reflected the publicly perceived party alignments of broadcasters.
GPB, Formula, Imedi, Mtavari Channel, Rustavi 2 and TV Pirveli devoted 61, 56, 82, 52, 80 and 51 per cent of their campaign news coverage to GD, respectively.
On Formula, 89 per cent of GD’s campaign was presented in a negative tone, while 88 per cent of the campaign coverage of the “Coalition for Change” was positive.
On Imedi, 89 per cent of the campaign coverage of “For Georgia” was in negative tone, while 80 of GD’s campaign coverage was positive.
On Mtavari Channel, 90 per cent of GD’s coverage was in negative tone, while 82 per cent of coverage of “Coalition for Change” was positive. On Rustavi 2, 66 per cent of the coverage of “Unity – to Save Georgia” was in a negative tone, while 68 per cent of GD’s coverage was positive.
On TV Pirveli, 91 per cent of GD’s campaign coverage was negative, while 50, 54 and 56 of the coverage of “Coalition for Change”, “Strong Georgia” and “Unity – to Save Georgia” was positive.
Overall, commercial media outlets monitored by the ODIHR EOM were instrumentalized for political propaganda, undermining independent news production and amplifying divisive political rhetoric. The lack of impartial analysis of party programmes and the refusal of senior political actors and prominent parties to debate, challenged voters’ ability to make an informed choice,” the report concludes.