Fast Facts RFE/RL's Georgian Service is widely regarded as the only objective and unbiased source of information in Georgia, where the government still retains a firm grip on media in the country. Language: Georgian Coverage: Four hours daily, plus a weekly one-hour program on Georgian Public Television; one-hour Russian-language program broadcast to Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions Established: 1953 Distribution: Radio (FM, UHF, Satellite, Shortwave), Internet (www.tavisupleba.org) Locations: Prague, Tbilisi Staff: 5 (Prague), 19 (Tbilisi), 29 stringers

Media Environment

• Freedom House Freedom of the Press Index, 2010: Partly Free (126th/196)
• Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, 2011: 105th/179
• Though Georgia has made significant progress in democratization since the Rose Revolution of 2003, the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili still retains a firm grip on media in the country. Many TV stations and newspapers critical of the authorities have been shut down, and all independent media was shut down during the government-declared state of emergency in November 2007. Violence by police against peaceful protesters has also been reported.

History

• Radio Tavisupleba aired its first Georgian-language program on March 3, 1953. It was called "Gantavisupleba" (Liberation).
• On April 9, 1989, RFE/RL's Georgian Service broke the story about how Soviet special troops had violently dispersed a peaceful demonstration in the center of Tbilisi. Twenty people died in the violence.
• The Tbilisi bureau of RFE/RL's Georgian Service was opened in 1997.
• The website of RFE/RL's Georgian Service was launched in 2001.
• Radio Tavisupleba was one of the media outlets affected by the government's state of emergency on November 7, 2007. The government's ban on independent media broadcasts shut down affiliate partners in Georgia. Tavisupleba secured shortwave and crossborder medium-wave frequencies to maintain news programming into Georgia. Tavisupleba also reconfigured its website, implemented an e-mail alert system, and used cellphone-based SMS alerts to keep its audience informed. For almost two weeks, Tavisupleba was the only nonstate news source for Georgians.

Highlights

• In November 2009, the service launched the "Ekho Kavkaza" (Echo of the Caucasus) program, a one-hour Russian-language program aimed at delivering information to Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• During Georgia’s war with Russia in August 2008, Radio Tavisupleba expanded its coverage by one hour a day, and its correspondents were the first from any international broadcaster to provide on-the-ground reporting. Most appreciated were Radio Tavisupleba’s blogs from the occupied cities of Gori and Poti. For several weeks these blogs were one of the few sources of independent information for Georgians and global audiences.
• When the government's ban on independent media broadcasts during the state of emergency in November 2007 shut down affiliate partners in Georgia, Radio Tavisupleba set up shortwave and cross-border medium-wave broadcasts to maintain the flow of news into the country. It also reconfigured its Web site, implemented an e-mail alert system, and used cell phone-based SMS alerts to keep its audience informed. For almost two weeks, Tavisupleba was the only non-state news source accessible to Georgians.
• In November 2007, RFE/RL inaugurated a one-hour weekly show on Georgian Public Television called “Red Zone,” which introduces the young generation to forgotten or undiscovered cultural figures and political themes from Georgia’s Soviet past.
• On April 9, 1989, Radio Tavisupleba broke the story about how Soviet special troops violently dispersed of a peaceful demonstration in the center of Tbilisi, in which twenty people died.

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Population
4.26 Million (World Bank Estimate, 2009)

Most Common Languages:
Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Azeri

Press Freedom Index (Freedom House)
Partly Free, ranked 126 out of 196 (2010)

Press Freedom Index (RSF):
105 out of 179 (2011)

Corruption Index (Transparency Int.):
68 out of 178 (2010)

Global Peace Index (IES):
142 out of 149 (2010)

Human Rights Watch:
Report on Georgia (2010)

Amnesty International:
Georgia Report (2010)