"Pervyi kavkazski" (First Caucasian) began broadcasting on the Internet in January 2010 [1]. Then, shortly after the launch of the W7 French company Eutelsat (via Baikonur), it was available to all the owners of satellite dishes in the Caucasus. Its coverage is wide, because it spans the northern and southern Caucasus, Russia and beyond.

A Pancaucasian and pro-Georgian Channel

The advent of Pervyi kavkazski, also known by its trademark 1K, is part of Georgian State's communication policy, which uses television as a portal through which they project their worldview. In a word: television is the central pillar of state propaganda. In fact, the Georgians shun media sources that require payment (source of information for only 24% of the population) and prefer television (source of information for 96% of the population) [2]. The main Georgian channels, whether national or regional, are mostly owned by people close to the government.

Transparency International did a report on the Georgian media landscape which focused on the dependence--whether direct or indirect--of the main channels on the state (Rustavi 2 with 35% market share, with 25% Imedi and Public Channel No. 1 with 8%) and on the weaker independent channels (Maestro and Kavkasia broadcast in Tbilisi and its environs, with less than 7% market share between them) [3]. 1K, launched by the Public Channel 1 does not escape this logic of dependence: its funds come from the state budget, and its best promoter is none other than the President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, for whom the channel is "a cultural base, a link between the most important civilizations." The fact that some of the managers of 1K came from the channel Alania, founded three years earlier by the government to promote the alternative pro-Georgian government in South Ossetia, is not insignificant. This being said, however, tells us nothing. To denounce the patronage of Georgian Media is only to deplore once the plague that is endemic to the post-soviet region. And by revealing the influence of the State's propaganda on the Channel only serves to bring into focus an already, well known secret, which does not bother its director Gia Chanturia. The value of 1K lies elsewhere. The new network has given itself two particularly ambitious missions. On the one hand, it must spread the "truth" in any Russian speaking zone outside of , while presenting a clear preference a Georgian perspective. In doing so, the network went on a crusade against Russian media giant dominating the Caucasus region. On the other hand, it fosters a unique media policy: its name, the target audience and content, present a united and idealized Caucasus. Surprisingly when we know the general fragmentation of the region, its division along the lines North-South (Russian Caucasus and South Caucasus) and East-West (Atlantic Georgia, pro-Russian Armenia and Azerbaijan with its connections to Central Asia). Eventually, the First public channel hopes to make 1K the international Georgian news station, opening interchanges between Europe and North America.

Caucasophile Content

1K is a propaganda channel and they barely hide it. The channel is supposed to report the Georgian news "in an objective manner" as well as offer "independent" news on current events taking place in the Northern Caucasus region. The "truth", is the producers rhetorical obsession. According to them it is the key ingredient absent in the regions media sources. One doesn't need a secret code to understand that 1K was created to present Tbilisi's views against those of the Russian Empire. It should also be noted that persistent rumors are spreading in Georgia about the possible financial participation of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky, a persona non-grata in Russia in certain affairs, who has, amongst others, been stripped of his own TV networks. He denies any such involvement, despite the accusations of the opposition in Georgia.

The form and content of the channel are worthy of interest. Note that 1K broadcasts in Russian Caucasus vernacular, a language which is on the decline in Georgia itself. In addition to news broadcasts about Georgia proper, 1K offers a window into the Caucasus, in a broader sense, all while favoring Georgia (for both political and financial reasons, since the network of connections for the channel have not yet been completely revealed). Three talk-shows invite Caucasian celebrities, whose testimonies paint a picture that is lively and uplifting of the different regions of the Caucasus. "The Price of the Issue" presents public debates between politicians and experts on major topics in the news: "Is there an alternative to NATO for Georgia? What are the prospects of dialogue with Russia? The H1N1, myth or reality? Is there any use in the meetings between the Abkhazians, Georgians and South Ossetians in Geneva? " Two history programs reexamine "the crimes committed by the Bolsheviks and the Communists since the occupation and Sovietization of Georgia in 1921, the other on historical issues by presenting two figures of the past face to face. Each justifies his position (Irakli II and Totleben, Shamil and Grigol Orbeliani, and Tsitsianov Leonidze ...). The debates are interspersed with films, documentaries and Caucasian stories.

Anti-Russian Newscasters?

Some of these flagship programs are presented by "stars", including the famous Georgian actor Zurab Kipchidzé. Two names attracted particular attention, well before the launch of the channel: The widow of the first President of Ichkeria (Chechnya), and the artist Alla Dudayev--the host of "Portrait Caucasian" where she interviews a guest while painting his portrait. The motive is obvious: her presence is a signal meant to attract the attention of the Kremlin and Chechnyans. Although Alla Dudayev embodies the image of the Chechnyan enemy in the eyes of the Kremlin, for the separatist fringe Chechnyan population, she is the wife of a resistance hero who died in battle.

But the backbone of the network is undoubtedly the Tajik journalist from Russia, Oleg Panfilov, the most famous face on 1K. Historian, journalist and specialist on Tajikistan, Oleg Panfilov founded the "Centre for Journalism in Extreme Situations," in Moscow. This center is internationally recognized as a reference for analysis of Media and journalists' rights in post-soviet regions. Particularly bitter vis-à-vis Russian power, O. Panfilov had a blog "free thinker" which was followed by many people, and was forcibly closed, according to him, by the FSB. His positions in favor of Georgia during the conflict in August 2008 earned him threats that lead to his decision to leave the country. Since last year, he has been living in Georgia, and is now a citizen. Currently, O. Panfilov teaches at the University Chavchavadze (now renamed University Ilia), in which he intends to base a future "international school of journalism" for students and professionals from the former USSR. The goal is not only to provide a complete education worthy of the profession, but also to purge the journalists of the mentality inherited from the Soviet era. Finally, O. Panfilov, who runs a new blog even more outspoken than the last against the "Putinoids" [4], will soon be the representative of the OSCE for the rights of the press.

The name of Panfilov might suffice to characterize the Russiaphobe spirit of Pervyi Kavkazski, the so-called alternative to the "Russian truth." About Pervyi Kavkazski, O. Panfilov said: "It is impossible to fight against the grip of Russian television. The only thing to do is to offer alternative news, unvarnished History shows, and programs advocating moral rehabilitation of Georgia in Russia's eyes. " And, he added, "Pervyi Kavkazski kind of takes over for Radio Liberty [5]. This television channel must spread liberal ideas in the post-Soviet space." Even though the announcement of his working at 1K gave the impression that the show would be dominated by his opinions and perspectives, he has kept the right to present a show, that is, in appearance, quite innocent. "Georgia with Oleg Panfilov" is meant to be a trip into enlightened, contemporary Georgia, a sort of tourist's commentary on the country "disparaged by Russian propaganda." A veritable ode to Georgia, the show has depicted an enchanted land, a country full of rich contrasts and one that is unfairly overlooked.

A Russo-Georgian symbolic war

The birth of Pervyi Kavkazski takes place in a context of high tensions between Russia and Georgia, and it is not intended to remedy this situation, as some Georgian critics complain. Diplomatic relations have stayed practically at a standstill since the August 2008 conflict. Russia recently bought some french Mistral military helicopters, Tbilisi viewed this as an attempt to push militarization on the Georgian border, which then initiated a policy of militarization in the minds of its citizens (a TV channel for Department of Defense, military training in schools, presidential speeches ...). The symbolic violence exerted on both sides of the Caucasus mountains is reflected in the propaganda war carried out by the state-owned television channels of Georgia and Russia. It should not be forgotten that since August 2008 Georgia has imposed an embargo on Russian satellite channels.

Recently, Pervyi Kavkazski was given International press due to a trial in France. At the last moment, the French satellite operator Eutelsat offered 1K a satellite with a smaller range than initially expected. Eutelstat was immediately accused of playing the game of its main client, Intersputnik, which broadcasts channels of Gazprom Media, linked to the Kremlin, in order to keep the channel from its Caucasian audience. Is this a case of a classic commercial coincidence or is it the war of Caucasus television networks? According to the 1K's management , correspondents in the North Caucasus would be threatened by the Russian authorities, and a change of satellite, as Eutelsat has proposed, would require viewers to acquire a smaller dish, making them "easily identifiable" by the Russian authorities.

The case quickly became "the Eutelsat scandal vs 1K". With offices in Paris, CEO of 1K has mobilized a part of the french "intelligentsia" to take up the network's cause [6], while hoping to add a European dimension to the scandal. Thus, Heidi Hautala, President of the Finnish Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament has taken on the defense of 1K against the "Russian television monopoly" in the region [7].

For all its defenders, 1K is only a television station, it is only a symbol, "a step forward for the pluralism of information in the post-Soviet space [6]. It is a sort of "Liberty TV" directed not against communism of old, but as Panfilov suggested, against the "Putinism" of today.

Notes :
[1] http://www.1k-tv.com
[2] According to the poll of the IRI/USAID : http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2009%20August%207%20Survey%20of%20Georgian%20Public%20Opinion,%20June%2016-25,%202009.pdf
[3] Transparency International : http://transparency.ge/sites/default/files/Media%20Ownership%20November%202009%20Eng.pdf
[4] http://olegpanfilov2.livejournal.com/
[5] Interview from February 13th, 20010. Radio Liberty, financed by the USA, was fought by the USSR for its anticommunistic programs. It used to represent a free and democratic source of information. This radio channel still broadcasts in more than 20 languages through the world.
[6] Libération, February 15th, 2010, http://www.liberation.fr/medias/0101619341-eutelsat-retablissez-la-chaine-perviy-kavkazskiy
[7] see her blog : http://www.heidihautala.fi/2010/02/cross-party-meps-express-concern-on-eutelsat-refusal-to-broadcast-russian-language-channel-in-georgia/

Sophie Tournon