Akaki Gogichaishvili has been appointed as the main producer of the main news of Adjara TV
By Anastasia Sokhadze
Tuesday, June 30
According to Gogichaishvili, Deputy Director of Adjara TV Vakhtang Khuzmiashvili offered him the position of the director of the channel.
Gogichaishvili says no one will interfere in his editorial policy and independence. According to him, Adjara Public Broadcaster remains critical and he wants the ‘public opinion’ to be heard more via the channel.
As a part of the changes in Adjara TV, Nino Khajomia, Akaki Gogichaishvili's wife, was appointed as a news producer on February 24th. In 4 days she resigned from her post and later became the online editor of the broadcaster's news service.
The situation in Adjara TV has been tense for the past few months, after Giorgi Kokhreidze, the director of the Georgian Dream staff, became the director of the TV station. Employees protested the director’s decisions, which they saw as an attempt to weaken editorial independence.
In particular, Kokhreidze reduced the authority of his deputy, Natia Zoidze, who had to leave the channel for this reason. On February 19th, Maia Merkviladze, the Deputy Head of the Information Service, also resigned . On February 28th, he fired Shorena Glonti, head of the Adjara TV and Radio Information Service of the Public Broadcaster.
On March 4th, Giorgi Abazadze was appointed as the head of the Adjara Broadcasting Information Service. He has been known for his homophobic and sexist ideology. According to journalists, the selection process was unclear. According to them, the director was offered the candidacy of Lasha Zarginava or Irina Kurua for the mentioned position, however, the leadership did not take their position into account.
On March 6th, journalist Teona Bakuridze was suspended. The relevant order of the director states that the TV presenter “was putting psychological pressure on the new head of the news service and forced Abazadze to leave his position based on the statement."
On March 13th, Bakuridze was fired by the director, citing a gross violation of internal regulations. The journalist believes that this decision of the management is unfair and intends to continue the dispute on this topic. EMC will protect the rights of Teona Bakuridze and other journalists of Adjara TV in court. Bakuridze is currently a journalist for TV Pirveli.
