On December 2nd -3rd, a round table “Coverage of the Georgian-Russian War in August, 2008 in Mass Media of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia” took place in the center of cultural interrelations “Caucasian House” (Tbilisi).
Armenian side was presented by an editor of the site southcaucasus.com, Louise Pogosyan, head of NGO “Caucasus Center of Peace-Making Initiatives”, George Vanyan and an editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Tesnkun” (Noemberyan), Voskan Sarkisyan. The Azerbaijan party was presented by an editor of the newspaper “Alma”, Vafa Jafarova, and a journalist of the newspaper \”Zerkalo\”, Idrak Abassov, and a writer of political essays, Seimur Baijan.
The deputy editor of the newspaper “Rezonansi”, Eliso Chapidze, an editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Caucasian Accent”, Gamlet Zukakishvili, head of NGO “Studio Re”, Mamuka Kuparadze, lecturer of the Institute of Public Relations (GIPA), Tina Tsomaia, head of NGO “Face to Face”, Rusudan Marshania, representatiove of the Caucasian Institute of Peace, Democracy and Development, civil rights advocate, Emile Adelkhanov, a journalist of the newspaper “Messenger”, Temuri Kiguradze and others were representing the Georgian party.
The first part of the meeting was dedicated to the events that took place in August in Georgia. The journalists, Idrak Abassov and Temuri Kiguradze, were witnessing the actions taking place in August. According to Abassov, the conflict was being broadly covered by Mass media of Azerbaijan from the very beginning of the war. The local television was giving positive assessment of the actions of the official Tbilisi. The official Azerbaijan took into consideration those actions in order to apply them in the prospective solution of Karabakh conflict.
Nevertheless, the main array of information, according to Abassov, was obtained with the reference to the information spread by the Georgian Mass Media sources. The newspapers were republishing reports from the Georgian internet-sites, and the TV companies were rebroadcasting video coverage shot by the Georgian television companies; or their own correspondents, who were based in Tbilisi, were providing information without being present at the site of events taking place at the time.
“The majority of the journalists failed to cover the events directly from Georgia due to the absence of means. I turned to the office IWPR. They agreed to sponsor my trip, though they advised me not to go to Gori, as it was very dangerous there,” – Abassov was quoted saying.
Abassov did not manage to find anyone responsible for accreditation of foreign journalists at the MFA of Georgia. He had to go on his own by a taxi to Gori.
Idrak managed to visit Gori during its bombing by Russian Air Forces; after that he headed towards Tskhinvali.
“I was arrested on the highway between Gori and Tskhinvali by the Ossetian militia troops. But I was lucky: one of the field commanders happened to be native of Baku and he agreed to take me by a tank to Tskhinvali,” says Idrak.
“There were many other journalists besides me. We were constantly accompanied by armed troops and the access to many sites was banned for us. However, when we tried to find out at least a name of a commander who allows or bans the entry for journalists, the only response we heard was: “We don’t know!” or “Mind your business!”
The participants of the round-table were interested in whether Georgian forces followed the moratorium to use weaponry for the duration of several hours (in order to give civilians an opportunity to flee from the city), as well as if the residents of Tskhinvali were aware of this. According to Idrak Abassov and Temuri Kiguradze, the moratorium was followed indeed, and those who were in Tskhinvali knew about it. However, in fact, nobody took an advantage of this corridor. The part of the populace considered this opportunity to leave the city as a way to captivity, others were afraid of being shot behind their backs by their own people.
Idrak described in details his reports concerning the stay in Gori and Tskhinvali in the materials for IWPR and newspaper “Zerkalo”. At the meeting he noted the fact that there was a dramatic lack of the information in the zone of conflict needed for a purposeful work. To make matters worse, neither Georgian nor Russian military officials would provide any competent information about activities taking place. Apart from this, there was no information about the front line deviation and status of the civilians.
Temuri Kiguradze has also mentioned the information vacuum.
“Had we known that, by that time, Tskhinvali was under control of Ossetian party, we would not have gone there at all,” – says he. “However, according to the information spread by the Georgian Mass Media, the Georgian forces were controlling 70% of Tskhinvali.”
Temuri has also pointed out the fact that on entering Tskhinvali the car with the journalists was allowed to enter the town without being informed that the town was under control of Ossetian rebels. Having parked their cars, the journalist came across the Ossetian rebels, who in their turn after calling them fired in the air. The journalists fled, whereas the rebels opened a fire behind their backs. The journalists Giga Chikhladze and Alexander Klimchuk were killed on the spot, Kiguradze and Winston Fezerli were wounded. Upon realizing that the wounded were journalists, the rebels assisted in providing the first aid.
According to Kiguradze, they were treated properly in the military hospital in Tskhinvali, since there were many local Georgians among the doctors. However, the Minister of Information of South Ossetia, Irina Gagloeva, later demanded the journalists to sign a ready-made article, which criticized Mikhail Saakashvili, right there in the warden.
“Later on, we were transported to Vladikavkaz under the supervision,” says Kiguradze. “We were questioned by FSB agents of Russia there.”
“Not at any rate would I have gone to Tskhinvali, if I had had any trustworthy information” – concluded Kiguradze.
Georgian journalists were annoyed by the tardiness and inaccuracy of the information in particular. Gamlet Zukakishvili harshly highlighted the fact that due to the inadequate coverage of the military actions not only journalists and troops but also residents of Georgian villages near-by Tskhinvali deceased.
“Journalists did not manage to fulfill their task, they did not succeed in providing accurate information concerning the lives of the people,” – says he.
Eliso Chapidze provided a few examples of how journalists were in perplexity questioning people why they were not fleeing from villages in Akhalgori region of Georgia where the military actions were taking place. The locals replied that according to the television announcements, Tskhinvali was completely under control of Georgian forces, therefore no peril would pose any threat to them.
According to the journalist Zviad Koridze’s report, Georgian television completely came under the bias.
«Very often Georgian journalists, as if due to the reason of defending state interests, refused to follow the professional duties. As a matter of fact, Azeri and Armenian Mass Media is stuck with the similar idea, and, in order to support national interests, ignores the notion of being objective and accurate. Consequently, taking into consideration the previously mentioned policy, the Mass Media becomes a source of propaganda, whereas it should provide accurate and trustworthy facts.
The Georgian pre-war propaganda was mostly based on the fact of massive attacks of the Georgian villages. Those acts were said to have been committed either by Russians peace-keepers or by Ossetian rebels. We, the viewers, regularly were informed that many villages such as Avnevi and Nuli and etc. were completely devastated since August the 1st. We were given an image of the regions in charts with the constant telephone reports from the zone of military actions. Nevertheless, we could not be completely confident in the fact whether those pieces of information were truly eyewitnessed by them or they were, simply, acquired from other sources. As soon as the impeccability of the power becomes a basis of journalism, propaganda strengthens its roots. According to official reports, attacks on the Georgian villages had become a driving force for recognition of Georgian Government’s actions as being adequate due to the nation’s trust in the decency of Mass Media.
The matter of this kind was no better with the Azeri and Armenian Mass Media. Louise Pogosyan mentioned the fact that Armenian TV channels were lacking the information in the same manner.
“The main priority for Armenian Mass Media at that time was preserving the Armenian origins. The Georgian side did not represent a conflict side. The main focus in the news items was Armenians living in the region of Javakheti and the citizens of Armenia who at that time were resting at the sea resorts of Ajara.”
According to Louise, information coverage of the August war in Armenian Mass Media could be divided into three stages, first of which was silence:
“Silence was called forth due to the fact that press was constrained itself. Editors, while compiling the paper, are aware that the President is supposed to read it. Therefore everyone tries their best to slant the materials in a way so it wouldn’t provoke authorities’ anger. So, at the first stage, the detailed round-up concerning Georgia up to 16th of August was spread by solely official newspapers. Either independent or oppositional newspapers didn’t dare to provide even brief teletype reports.”
“The principle source of information in Armenia was obtained through Russian TV channels. As a result, the viewers were undergoing strong idealistic processing and influence of Russian propaganda,” – says Louise.
The second stage, in her opinion, was initiated from the moment when the President of Armenia, Serzh Sarkisyan declared that after the defeat of Georgia in that war, it became apparent that it was impossible to solve the military conflict. According to Pogosyan, analysts of Armenian press were working within these frames.
Finally, the third stage, the beginning of which Louise considers September 28, is characterized by the change of attitude of Armenian Mass Media towards Georgia from hostile to neutrally-amicable.
– But the fact is, – says Louise, – that it was policy of Kremlin. All of a sudden, Kremlin realized that strained relations between Georgia and Armenia are not worth any attempt.
Nevertheless, Louise presumes that relations between Armenia and Georgia might be strained since some radical political parties of Armenia are ready to raise the issue of autonomy of Georgian region, Javakheti. After the war, for example, such statement was made by the representatives of the “Dashnaktsutiun” party.
The editor of “Tesankun” newspaper, Voskan Sarkisyan, pointed out that regional Mass Media were drastically reacting to the latest events in Georgia.
The majority of the participants noted that Armenia and Azerbaijan established a link between the events in Georgia and the settlement of Karabakh conflict. According to the publicist, Seimur Baijan, Azeri press was calling authorities to follow Georgia’s suit and solve the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh in a military manner. However, after August 16th, when Russian troops reached Khashuri and took up Zugdidi, the same editions began to criticize Saakashvili for the rashness and praise Aliev for political wisdom and self-mastery.
It is said that all three countries of South Caucasus encounter similar problems: authorities try to transform Mass Media into the engine of propaganda, at the same time the population lacks the demand of independent and trustworthy information.
According to George Vanyan, the press in Armenia seemed to be engaged by politicians as far back as the beginning of war in Karabakh:
“Our citizens today are alienated from the free press. Actually, nobody reads newspapers in the regions. At the same time, the press itself offers nothing as it is under the influence of the policy. The most popular channels in Armenia are RTR and the First Russian Channel”.
Vafa Jafarova told us that from the beginning of the 1 January, 2009, broadcast of the radio stations BBC and “Radio freedom” on FM frequencies will be ceased in Azerbaijan.
“There are no independent TV channels in Azerbaijan, – says she. – It’s very difficult for journalists to obtain information from state officials. The most productive newspapers are being closed. If earlier the most popular daily newspaper was considered “Giundelik” with the circulation of 60-70 thousands, today the biggest circulation has the pro-government newspaper “Elim Salam” that constitutes 11 thousand issues.
Jafarova initiated production of special project of the Newspaper “Alma” in August, which stated the chronology of military actions between Russia and Georgia. The circulation of the newspaper constituted 5 thousand copies and 1000 more copies were distributed free by the activists of the youth movement, “Dalga”.
– Many journalists are imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The popular newspaper “Real Azerbaijan” is closed after its editor, Einula Fatulaev, had been arrested on charges of inflaming ethnic dissension and extremism.
In the opinion of Vafa Jafarova, Seimur Baijan and Idrak Abassov, the most impressive shock for Azeri journalists became the assassination of the editor of the magazine “Moitor”, Elmar Guseinov, in 2004.
According to Gamlet Zukakishvili, there are almost no independent TV channels in Georgia:
“TV channel “Rustavi-2” was once independent and free, but immediately after the “Rose Revolution” they declared themselves as the “television of the winning people”, and, thus, it became pro-government.”
Zukakishvili noted concerning the printing Mass Media, that Georgia lacks serious editions:
“Even newspaper “24 Hours”, which was started as an independent edition, more frequently publishes pro-government propaganda materials”.
As an example, Zukakishvili gives the column of the ombudsman of the newspaper “24 hours”: “Instead of protection of human rights, there is wild discredit of politicians in opposition”.
The majority of the newspapers, in his opinion, represent “Yellow Press”, since they mostly are engaged in shocking behavior rather than coverage of facts.
Eliso Chapidze agreed with the fact that newspapers and TV channels of Georgia left the policy of unbiased information. The most striking example that she gave was the commentary of “Rustavi 2” concerning the fourth subdivision.
“While I was in hospital and was having a conversation with one of the wounded soldiers of that subdivision, there was a news item covering the fourth subdivision leaving Tskhinvali. The troop I was having a conversation with implied that he was not familiar with any of the soldiers shown in the coverage.
However, Chapidze thinks that greater part of responsibility for inaccurate and late informing is borne by the government and military leaders, since they never cooperated with the press.
Chapidze and many other participants of the round-table think that Mass Media itself turned out to be unprepared to the competent coverage of the events.
“We do hope that the precedent of a kind will not take place in the future and that the military officials would recruit at least one representative of each newspaper, of each Internet site, and of each television company in order to conduct a training on how to shed the light on war”- says Chapidze.
According to a common opinion of the participants of the round-table each country in the South Caucasus is too occupied with the inner problems and does not react to the events taking place in the neighboring countries. For instance, Armenia and Azerbaijan take into consideration each other in terms of conflict in Karabakh.
George Vaganyan offered to create an integrated informational space that would satisfy informational demands of the whole population of South Caucasus. As an example, many people remembered TV project “Crossroads”. According to the opinion of the Georgian participants, “Crossroads” was uninteresting and had small rating. But in the opinion of representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan, this was a very interesting program.
It can be concluded that the reasons for further meetings of journalists of South Caucasus – are more than enough.
Beslan Kmuzov, for newcaucasus.com
Round table “Coverage of the Georgian-Russian War in August, 2008 in Mass Media of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia” organized by the fund of Konrad Adenauer and the editorial board of the newcaucasus.com together with NGO “Caucasian House”.
