Television Station in Georgia Operates Mysteriously, Generates Controversy

Seven months after it began broadcasting in Georgia, Alania TV, a pro-Tbilisi, Russian-language television channel, remains a subject of controversy and speculation.

The chief mystery concerning Alania's operations concerns its ownership structure. Television station representatives have taken pains to keep its financial picture under wraps. Anonymous sources within the station have been quoted by Georgian media outlets as saying the station has "foreign" financial backers. However media observers in Tbilisi claim it is an open secret that Alania is supported by the Georgian government itself. In a telephone interview Gela Charkviani, the president's spokesperson, denied any knowledge of the television station's owner, or the source of its financing. Television station representatives refused to comment for this article.

"We all know this is also a state TV channel. It is not privately [owned]," said Irina Tsintsadze, a development officer at Internews Georgia, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on media capacity-building. She noted that while she does not understand the need for secrecy, she characterized the station's emergence as "good strategy," as President Mikheil Saakashvili's government goes about trying to bring South Ossetia back under Tbilisi's control. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. "If you want to send a message to somebody, you should send it in an important way that