Update on the Georgian Russian-language satellite dispute.
Noted in SPJ/IJC report: Russian-language station in Georgia suspended

Reported on Media.ge

First Caucasian Channel to Resume Broadcasts through American Satellite

The Georgian Public Broadcasting (GPB) is conducting talks with the Hot Bird satellite network in regard to the Georgia’s Russian-language First Caucasian channel.

“It’s an American provider company being conducted the talks with,” GPB staff reported.

Hot Bird launched talks when EUTELSAT declared of its final denial to GPB over concluding the contract on the First Caucasian channel. On February 2 the Georgian side sued the French company at the Paris court.

EUTELSAT cut the GPB-based First Caucasian two-week trial broadcasting on January 28.

According to the Georgian side taking the First Caucasian channel off was due to the Russian pressure; EUTELSAT though cited the expiration of the trial period as a reason.

“From our viewpoint Russia has got less levers of pressure upon the American company,” GPB staff told Media.ge.

The contract to be concluded with Hot Bird in the near future, according to the staff, provides the First Caucasian broadcasts across Europe.

The TV broadcasts are currently available via the Internet.

I just posted a lengthy piece on a new war of words between Georgia and Russia. Rather than repeat it all here, I am posting the first few grafs and then a link to my site on international journalism.

Russian-language station in Georgia suspended

We all know there is no love lost between Georgia and Russia.

Remember that little war in 2008?

Oh, and remember that this same war was seen as the first cyber-war?

Now, we have accusations of Russian pressure to censor news from Georgia. (See below for a list of related articles.)

Georgian Public Broadcast had its new Russian-language channel, First Caucasian, carried on Eutelsat for the last half of January.

And here is where it gets interesting. The Georgians say the channel was dropped because of pressure from Moscow. The satellite company says the two-week run was just a trial.

More at Journalism, Journalists and the World

Soviet-era media control persists

From Variety 11/29/09

It’s nice to see different U.S. media outlets talking about the growing problem of how the Russian government seems to be working harder and harder to get the news organizations under its thumb.

As the article points out, there was a brief period of freedom in the 90s. That was quickly smashed.

Journalists in Russia are not only facing growing censorship of their work, they are also facing the ultimate form of censorship: death. And the government has done little to arrest, try and jail the killers.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, odds are on the side of murders of journalists in Russia. Fifty-two journalists have been killed in Russia since 1992, 32 were murdered and 32 killed with impunity.

Killers are convicted in just one in 17 slayings since 2000. Victims include acclaimed reporter Anna Politkovskaya

The issue of unsolved killings hit the media outside Russia. The CPJ prepared a special report on the topic: Anatomy of Injustice: The Unsolved Killings of Journalists in Russia.

First published at Journalism, Journalists and the World.