The EU and UNDP support media research by civil society organizations

Media Monitoring of the 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia

Assisting media research by civil society organizations

Overview

The European Union (EU) and UNDP are supporting professional media monitoring in Georgia, aiming to promote media diversity, increase the quality of reporting and build the watchdog functions of civil society at a time of elections. Since its launch in 2010, the initiative has contributed to media research during eight general elections in Georgia:

  1. Local Self-Government elections (2010)
  2. Parliamentary polls (2012)
  3. Presidential elections (2013)
  4. Local Self-Government elections (2014)
  5. Parliamentary polls (2016)
  6. Local Self-Government elections (2017)
  7. Presidential elections (2018)
  8. Parliamentary elections (2020)

Project document

What we do

The current project focuses on media monitoring of the 2020 parliamentary polls in Georgia. The EU and UNDP are working with a team of civil society organizations – the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Internews-Georgia and the Caucasus Research Resource Centers – Georgia (CRRC), to examine impartiality and balance of reporting before, during and after the election period.

The election monitoring was implemented in June – December 2020, covering 43 different media outlets, including 12 television stations, 10 radio stations, 8 print newspapers and 13 online editions. It also looked into the ways that Georgian media organizations connect with their readers on Facebook, analysing what kind of electoral news gets the most social media outreach, including through the Facebook pages associated with political parties, officials and politicians. A separate report prepared by CRRC-Georgia examined how Georgian TV stations see the foreign influence on Georgian electoral processes.

The post-election monitoring was implemented in February – March 201, covering 33 media outlets, including 12 television stations, 8 print newspapers and 13 online editions.

The monitoring methodology reports are available at mediamonitor.ge

Results in 2010-2020

Media Monitoring

  • Media monitoring of eight general elections in Georgia in 2010 – 2020.
  • Media monitoring of the social and economic issues (2011, 2012).
  • Facilitation of a public discussion about election reporting through TV talk shows and web resources.

Training and Media Development

  • Media monitoring training for Georgian civil society organizations, delivered by the Slovak media-monitoring organization Memo’98 and the Italian media research centre “Osservatorio di Pavía”.

Contact Information

Project address

15a Paliashvili Street 
Tbilisi 0179 Georgia

Contact persons

Zurab Khrikadze
Project Manager
zurab.khrikadze@undp.org

Gigi Bregadze
UNDP Democratic Governance Team Leader
gigi.bregadze@undp.org