Mr. Vasil Maglaperidze, Director General of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has resigned.
He has submitted his resignation letter to the Board of Trustees of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB).
Statement of Vasil Maglapheridze:
“I believe that owing to the excellent work of the GPB team, it has made big progress since 2017. We started production of high-quality mega-shows, musical and educational programs, making Georgian TV series, two of which are going to be aired in autumn. The trend will surely keep up. This is also true for cartoons. The first season of a Georgian 20-sequence children’s animation is also going to be broadcasted in autumn. We have been making documentaries including documentary series. We have announced a script competition and are going to start shooting short-length TV films.
As to the Radio, up until 2017, the radio coverage had been limited. The Radio 1 signal did not even reach the town of Mtskheta, quite close to the capital Tbilisi; hence the limited audience. 27 new towers have been installed this year and the Georgian Radio is now the only across-the-country broadcaster, with its signal reaching even the remote mountainous villages and main highways.
In merely two and a half years, 1tv.ge has become the Media market leader. “Georgia 360” web-project to be launched in September will allow the Internet users to travel around the country. I hope the project will rouse interest both here in Georgia and abroad and give the younger generation a better knowledge of their own country. Another novelty anticipated by the end of the year is “TV in Your Mobile”, actually the third channel focused on the younger generation.
I wish to single out the TV School Channel, which I believe will offer a number of exciting programs. Close involvement of the ethnic minorities remains the broadcaster’s permanent priority. We have launched a regular “Diverse Georgia” project, which among others is a kind of educational lab for the younger generation ethnic minority journalists.
Finally, the Newsroom – what I saw as I took office was its outdated even decrepit equipment, old cameras, insufficient lighting, a shabby car fleet etc. There was no equipment in the largest studio, which curiously enough had been leased to another TV station. Even against this background, the Newsroom was in the worst shape. It was dangerously stuffy and therefore unsafe to journalists. There was not a single live coverage device in there. The TV station is being reequipped; we have completed all the formalities and the construction of a new adequate building is going to be launched in September. In a couple of years, the country will have a European standard television.
In order to support the development of various studios, the Georgian TV outsources an increasing number of its programs. By supporting the younger generation TV directors, the Public Broadcaster is doing its best to promote the Georgian movies.
Safety remains the GPB’s top priority, which first and foremost, implies production and purchase of tasteful, quality programs and movies.
Besides the production of the tasteful TV programs, GPB regards unbiased coverage of political developments its duty.
I have no doubt and any unbiased monitor can confirm it that nowadays, the GPB coverage is the most balanced and unbiased. There is no censorship and the journalists are doing their best to report verified information only.
Although I’m pretty sure that the GPB coverage of the forthcoming election etc. developments are going to be fair, I’ve decided to resign, so that there is no doubt about the credibility of the broadcaster.
GPB has got over most of the obstacles and I can assert that its 2020 autumn season beginning in September is going to highlight a new stage in terms of high-quality tasteful production. The channel, which was deliberately placed in an unfavourable position hampering its development has got out of a deadlock and is determined to remain true to its duties of the Public Broadcaster. My colleagues and I have been working hard to achieve it and we can’t let all our efforts go down the drain”, – Mr. Maglaperidze said in his statement.
