The programmes, due to go to air by January 2005, are part of a comprehensive redesign of the news department, a step in the process of the transformation of the Georgian State TV & Radio Broadcasting Corporation into a public service broadcaster.

"This is the first such initiative in the Caucasus, and is a very positive step towards acknowledging the religious and ethnic diversity in Georgia, where ethnic minorities make 30% of the population," said Milica Pesic, director of the London-based Media Diversity Institute (MDI).

MDI's contribution consists of organizing the Minority Broadcast Unit, selecting the production teams, developing a news magazine format, and training all producers and presenters to produce interesting content that reflects the problems and aspirations of their communities.

Each minority language will feature in one 30-minute show a week, to be broadcast at 15:00 hours on a rolling basis. Each day, the minority presenter will also co-host the 18:00 news show in Georgian language, alongside the regular anchor.

"Decisions on the content of the minority shows will be decided jointly by the executive producer Nino Khidasheli and the editors of the minority shows," said the chairman of the Georgian State TV & Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Mr Zaza Shengelia.

MDI believes that the new programmes should be independent and free of political interference. However, since the legal transformation of the Georgian State TV & Radio Broadcasting Corporation into public service broadcaster has not been completed, MDI will include the station in its 2005 Caucasus media monitoring.