Media Advocacy Coalition addresses the Parliament and Broadcasting Supervisory Board Council to react and openly state their position about the public statement of the member of the Supervisory Board, Giorgi Iakobashvili. Giorgi Iakobashvili, as a Supervisory Board member, defines the priorities and development strategy and controls the management of the Public Broadcasting. He was chosen for this position with 84 votes by Georgian Parliament in 2017.

This places the responsibility on the members of the parliament too. Council members’ salary is financed by the national budget. Giorgi Iakobashvili systematically makes unethical, offensive and crude remarks. The last incident was on the 3rd of February, where he offended the independent self-regulator institute, Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, which has 318 member journalists. He also crudely remarked its member regional journalists and in general, nongovernmental organizations.

Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics is an independent self-regulatory institution which supports the implementation of high professional standards in the country. Therefore, derogatory remarks damage the image of Public Broadcasting and disrespect professional standards. It is necessary for the Parliament and the Supervisory Board to react to the statements of Giorgi Iakobashvili, because he, as a board member is influential in choosing the values and maintaining the image of Public Broadcasting.