Monday is a hard day and Sunday is relatively lighter, but not in television.  When others relax in television Sunday programming is of significant importance.  The more interesting and diverse it is, the more viewers it has.  Commonly in Sunday prime-time emphasis is made on one program.  At Rustavi 2 it is P.S., on the First Channel – I don’t know (allegedly, a documentary found in medieval archives) and on Imedi it is Panorama. 

The program has been on air for approximately one month but its profile is still obscure.  Authors wish for Panorama to have approximately as interesting team as Droeba (leading journalists of the TV-Company work on the program), to be just as complete, artistic and interesting as the first Journalist’s Diary was, to tell stories creatively, although it does not fit in any of the aforementioned formats yet. 

I would probably not write the given post if not for the last week’s program and topics on globalization, immigration law or paranormal activities. 

Fortunately or unfortunately there’s part of society in Georgia which strongly believes in one of the main objectives of the West – to take away our Georgian originality.  The report titled Anti-western attitude – reality or myth was nothing else but proving that globalization will destroy us and that West is bad.  Report respondents claimed that there’s American track in the events taken place in Georgia in 1990’s that while West responded to 7 November, August 2008 war and 26 May events only by expressing concern, after 17 November events it “started shouting” and that it is the aim of the EU for us to lose nationality and religion that West believes different religion and language a barrier to globalization and that we will lose our Georgian originality…  For balance (or more for it to be there) the author had interview with Gigi Tevzadze, whose phrases where clearly taken out of context and as result supported the mainline of the topic. 

In general all programs have producers, whose duty is to view a report, give direction to a journalist (which does not mean professional offense to anyone) and take care of balance… In this case the producer either completely trusted the journalist or was so impressed by the distinguished style of storytelling that he missed the most important or completely agreed to the pathos the “good-bad” of which was made even more impressive by background music chosen. 

Another report in the program was on tightening of immigration policy, although after seeing the report viewers would remember marriage of African Americans and Georgian women, their children and settlement in Georgia (which further strengthened the pathos from previous report about us losing Georgian originality.)  Why it has been decided to tighten the immigration regime and so on was not possible to understand from the report although they had comment from deputy interior minister recorded in some corner of Parliament.  Report from Tkviavi was of some kind of horror genre.  It told a story of paranormal activities in one common household.  The topic itself was interesting but music, footage and editing was more for a night show than a 9-p.m. newscast. 

There are many genres of report although I could not understand which was Eka Khoperia’s report aired in previous programs and which was on photo-session of celebrity moms and their children.  Not to mention footage with naked children, Khoperia participated in the session herself and I had an impression that she was the main character. 

Anyway… it is hard to make a TV-magazine, but it is easy to before airing a report to see it, make remarks in the process of its making, if a story is not clear to correct it preliminarily or to put a presenter in the lead.  It is also easy not to record an authority in a news style somewhere in a corner, but to plan an interview, take care of balance for which it is not enough to just take a shallow comment but to control that a report planned as a feature not to turn into mockery.  Actually, how can I teach anyone; people with the same working experience work on the program and I am deeply confident that there’s nothing to teach them.