• ABOUT US
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • CONTACT US
Georgia Today
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
No Result
View All Result
Georgia Today
No Result
View All Result

Where to Find the Truth – in Real Life or on TV?

by Georgia Today
September 23, 2021
in Newspaper, OP-ED, Politics
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Image source: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Image source: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Life in the Republic has turned into a real paradox, and it is bittersweet fun to watch, especially in an electoral season socially and politically heated to an excruciating redness. Notwithstanding the political temperature in Georgia, life is continuing in the same old way, with a more or less balanced ratio of good and bad, and fairly merging gives and takes: people somehow make ends meet, car tanks are full of gas, food stores stay alive with moderate success, prices are up but are still bearable, planes are flying, marriages are consummated, kids are born, funerals are served, divorces are filed, hospitals operate, teachers teach and students learn, games are played both on homerun computers and at social joints, sanitation trucks continue blocking the traffic, movies are being watched, restaurants keep catering to our appetites, lands are tilled, businesses drag along, construction activities are in full swing, banks operate, taxes are paid, criminals are apprehended, indispensable surveillance has its negligible way, exports are executed and imports are in place, and money is earned and spent.

All this is happening in real life, but on TV, we witness a totally different version of our existence, as if real life and television happen to be two totally different realms of our being. The question is where the essentials are for our survival in this country. Functionally speaking, television, as a media of mass communication, is normally called on to inform, to educate and to entertain society. In Georgia, the last two of those three essential functions of media seem to be stuck in the idea of an Armageddon, which all of us, it claims, are a part of and victim to. We the media-watchers are faced with their informative job, drastically bisected as a political tool in the hands of the self-defending ruling power and its ferocious opposition. The fight between them has put their watchers and listeners at a total loss, with no ability to discern between lie and truth, because the real-life truth has stopped being reflected in the reported version of the truth, especially on our TV screens. Hence the question: where to find the truth that is still in demand – in real life or on TV? After all, we all need that truth so as to be correctly oriented in the ocean of electoral bickering and story-telling.

One could say that the politicians and media are kept safe from political disasters thanks to public gullibility in general, but the public (electorate) are also aware that ‘they can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but they cannot fool all of the people all of the time’. (Thank you so much, President Lincoln, for having me wax this fair and strong!) On the other hand, all is more than simple: what other way could media have to get a favorite politician elected except by blowing the assets of the preferred one into an oversize balloon of exaggeration, and inflating the faults of the opposite side into some monstrous parameters? None!

So, let’s perform the political-choice-making dance to the tune suggested by the barefacedly divided media so that the entire pre-electoral choreography looks decent enough to be believed in. Meanwhile, let us carry on seeking the truth, which we also need to continue living, somewhere out in the open air, beyond TV’s technical capabilities and moral stands. The picture just described is the clearest possible reflection of those roaring controversial values of liberal democracy. I only wonder if this is the best way to organize our lives well enough to avoid the potential missteps on our way to a better personal life and eventual national survival. There is something very substantial that makes this question fair and lawful; only, we need to gather some patience and acquire more knowledge to respond to it with some dignified truth and clear conscience. Both have become scarce and expensive to attain, but an attempt wouldn’t hurt.

Op-Ed by Nugzar B. Ruhadze

Tags: ElectionsmediaNugzar B. RuhadzePolitics
ShareShareTweet

Related Posts

Nationwide Rehabilitation and Construction Planned for 885 Kindergartens
News

Nationwide Rehabilitation and Construction Planned for 885 Kindergartens

January 30, 2023
Levan Khabeishvili Voted in as UNM Chairman
News

Levan Khabeishvili Voted in as UNM Chairman

January 30, 2023
Police in Gudauri near the popular ski lifts. Photo from the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Newspaper

Trouble in Gudauri: “Mafia” Opposes Foreign Workforce

January 28, 2023

Recommended

Georgian Foreign Minister Holds Farewell Meeting with French Ambassador to Georgia

Georgian Foreign Minister Holds Farewell Meeting with French Ambassador to Georgia

4 months ago
Natia Mezvrishvili on Dealing with 2 Political Giants

Natia Mezvrishvili on Dealing with 2 Political Giants

10 months ago
Giorgi Gakharia: We were Told We Were Capable of Nothing – It’s All a Lie and Ukraine is a Great Example of This

Giorgi Gakharia: We were Told We Were Capable of Nothing – It’s All a Lie and Ukraine is a Great Example of This

11 months ago
GT Interview with Giorgi Badridze

GT Interview with Giorgi Badridze

11 months ago
Russo-Ukrainian War and Georgia – Analysis from security expert Kakha Kemoklidze

Russo-Ukrainian War and Georgia – Analysis from security expert Kakha Kemoklidze

11 months ago

Navigation

  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • International
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • Magazine
  • GEO
  • OP-ED
  • About Us
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • Contact

Highlights

EU, Georgia Hold 5th Strategic Security Dialogue

Ukraine’s Chargé d’Affaires Suggests Ukrainians be Evacuated from Georgia

Administration: President’s Words Being Systematically Distorted, Misleading Public

Eight Countries Join Tightened EU Sanctions against Russia

Kharkiv Mayor, Lviv Governor Send Thank-you Letter to Georgian FM

Carl Bildt: Refusal of Regime to Allow Saakashvili Proper Treatment Abroad Truly Shameful

Trending

No Content Available
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • GEO
  • Magazine
  • Old Website

2000-2022 © Georgia Today

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business & Economy
  • Social & Society
  • Sports
  • Culture
  • International
  • Where.ge
  • Newspaper
  • Magazine
  • GEO
  • OP-ED
  • About Us
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Advertising
    • Subscription
  • Contact

2000-2022 © Georgia Today