Imedi TV journalists oppose their deputy manager in assessing Russia-Georgia war
By Tsotne Pataraia
Friday, August 16
Some of Imedi TV journalists have protested against a film about the Russia-Georgia war of 2008 which was broadcasted by the same media outlet on August 12. With identical posts on their personal Facebook pages, the journalists expressed that there was a contradiction between their perceptions of the war and the main emphasis of the film, which was released without mentioning the author.
"I do not agree with one of the main lines of the material about the Russia-Georgia war. The version that Russia was forced to invade Georgia is unacceptable, and this is confirmed by many reports on the war that we have prepared over the years!" reads the Facebook post. The journalists and editors of "Imedinews" and main political news program "Kronika," thus stated their objection towards the main character of the film, who blamed beginning the war on the Georgian side. The group of protesters includes Nana Lezhava, Nanuka Kajaia, Natalia Makhviladze, Vasil Dabrundashvili, Levan Kvatashidze, Natia Songulashvili, and others.
The film "We Will Peacefully Win the War Started by Others" openly accuses the previous government of beginning the war and provoking Russia. It has been criticized by many, especially the fact that the author of the film was hiding from the public eye. Later, Nika Laliashvili, the channel's deputy general manager, took responsibility for producing the film and made some clarifications about his incentives.
"I am the producer. This report was produced with my guidance... The film is about hundreds of our soldiers who heroically sacrificed their lives for Saakashvili's venture. The authors of this film are refugees who are the victims of this venture, and finally, the author of this film is the Georgian society, who knows everything very well and from whom the truth had been taken away for 11 years. The documents that are used in the film are the ones signed by Saakashvili's government, the conclusions of the Council of Europe and we also have included the interviews of the eyewitnesses of all this," said Laliashvili.
"We Will Peacefully Win the War Started by Others" was televised on August 12t by Imedi TV. The 36-minute film was criticized by civil society, political opposition and media experts.
Evaluating the film, the platform Mediachecker, which monitors the work of the media in Georgia, states that the film reiterated the Russian propaganda.
"Untitled, a film that repeats the messages of Russian media propaganda one by one... The film's one-sided discussion of events, misrepresentation of context and facts directly replicates the narrative of well-known Russian propaganda about the August war, contributing largely to softening Russia's role-playing in the events of 2008 and reinforcing anti-state rhetoric."
The Russia-Georgian War took place in the August of 2008 and was fought between Georgia, Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of so-called South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
