This Affects You Too Issues Special Statement on Extension of Must-Carry Obligations
This Affects You Too campaigner NGOs and medial outlets, the Coalition for Media Advocacy, the Georgian Civil Society National Platform for the Eastern Partnership, 11 political subjects, international organizations, the Ambassadorial Working Group, ordinary voters and most of the journalists have expressed their stance regarding the extension of the term of must-carry and must-offer obligations beyond the Election Day and the following period. They all find the suspension of the obligation unacceptable as this would have an adverse impact on the media environment and the election processes.
Moreover, in his public statements David Bakradze, the chairman of Parliament of Georgia, has supported the potential extension of the term of the must-carry obligation, saying: “End of the term of the must-carry obligation does not mean that cable operators and televisions must stop cooperation. They are free to further cooperate with each other. We welcome and support any agreement reached between any cable operator and television to continue such cooperation”. Furthermore, speaking to the UN General Assembly several days ago, the President of Georgia called the introduction of the must-carry/must-offer principles as one of the positive steps made by the Georgian government.
Despite of a number of agreements and promises made, several cases of the violation of must-carry/must-offer obligations has occurred in several regions of Georgia.
We urge cable operators as well as national and regional broadcasters to act in the best interest of the public at this rather important moment for the state and society and avoid:
Furthermore, we would like to inform you that we will monitor every single case of breaking law and ignoring people’s interest in this field before the elections, especially starting from September 29, until the official announcement of the election results.
