The management of the First Channel of the Georgian Public Broadcaster has imposed disciplinary sanctions on four employees who have publicly criticized the channel’s editorial policy, accusing it of bias in favor of the government.
The employees are: journalist Tamar Mshvenieradze and anchor Ioseb Katsitadze from the program Realuri Sivrtse (Real Space), technical director and part-time sports channel director Kakha Melikidze, and branding and promotion director Irma Chubinidze.
Ioseb Katsitadze shared the disciplinary document on social media. According to the document, he is being sanctioned for “calling into question the broadcaster’s editorial independence and impartiality through public statements, thereby causing reputational harm to the employer.” The notice states that if Katsitadze repeats such conduct within the next 12 months, he will be dismissed. It is presumed that the same consequence may apply to the other three employees if they continue their criticism.
Katsitadze, Mshvenieradze, and Chubinidze are members of the Defenders of the Public Broadcaster movement and have been speaking out in recent months about political influence within the channel. On February 3, 2025, at a meeting of the broadcaster’s board of trustees, Kakha Melikidze publicly stated that the channel’s management interfered with his editorial work and repeatedly requested the on-air appearance of public officials during match broadcasts.
Today, April 11, it was also announced that the Public Broadcaster has dismissed two of its prominent on-air personalities, Nino Zautashvili and Vasil Ivanov-Chikovani, who had likewise criticized the station’s editorial policies.