Territorial TV?
The opening broadcast of the First Caucasian Channel
Photo: 1k-tv.com
A new Russian-language TV channel, launched this month by Georgia, is causing controversy in the Caucasus. The channel says it will offer unbiased news to people across the region and counter the dominance of pro-Kremlin Russian media, but critics claim it is just an anti-Russia propaganda machine.
Georgia and Russia have been locked in a war of words since the short-lived military conflict over South Ossetia in 2008, both trying to win hearts and minds in the Caucasus region.
Russian state TV channels have a wide reach because the language is still widely spoken throughout the region - a legacy of Soviet times. Tbilisi is hoping that the First Caucasian Channel , launched this month, will help even out the balance.
The state-funded channel broadcasts a mixture of news and entertainment programmes and has attracted some high-profile names, including Alla Dudayeva, the widow of the separatist Chechen leader Dzhokar Dudayev. Another key presenter is the well-known Russian journalist and press freedom campaigner Oleg Panfilov.
Georgia has rejected accusations that the channel has been set up to broadcast anti-Russian propaganda, stating that its aim is to paint a fair picture of events in Georgia and the rest of the Caucasus.
Nevertheless, some doubt if this is really its aim and others, such as Georgian opposition politician Giorgi Khaindrava, are warning the station may further inflame tensions with Moscow, which are still running high in the wake of the South Ossetia war.
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