28 November, 2011
The Coalition for Media Advocacy would like to express full support for the print media and join fair protests voiced by representatives of the press against the decision on newsstands made by the Tbilisi City Hall.
Distribution of newspapers and magazines is a problem issue in Georgia. The announcement of an auction to sell places currently occupied by newsstands will aggravate the question further as it will limit significantly newspaper and magazine sale and distribution.
We think that newspapers, magazines and books are products that are especially important for the public and a fair competition should be among their distributors, rather than among distributors of newspapers and food products.
The coalition urges the City Hall to cancel the auction, meet with newspaper and magazine publishers and distributors and resolve the issue in cooperation with them to avoid damage to the print media as well as newspaper and magazine readers.