Professional media for elections
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Thursday, July 31
Three non-government organizations, CRRC Georgia, Internews Georgia and the Civil Development Institute (CDI) presented media monitoring results of the 2014 local self-governance elections in Georgia, at the Radisson Blue Hotel on July 30.
The project was funded by the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The monitoring period covers April 15-June 30, 2014.
The presentation was attended by the Democratic Governance Team Leader at UNDP, Gigi Bregvadze, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation Boris Larochevitch, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Shombi Sharp, representative of the EU Helga Pender and representatives of NGOs.
They observed media coverage of local elections in TV, radio, print and online outlets. In total, about 40 media sources were observed.
”We have been monitoring the media since 2012, and I can say that the last research illustrated great progress. However, lots of work is still to be done,” stated Iarochevitch.
”Georgian media is progressing and this is a fact. Day by day, it is getting less and less biased and more and more grounded. I think that media monitoring must continue, and I am sure it will. This is one of the best ways to support media development in the country. The media gains much benefit through such kinds of observations,” Sharp stated.
Media monitor of CRRC Giorgi Jalagua told The Messenger that the situation in online and print media is totally different.
“Online media is in good condition, journalist are impartial and their work is grounded. However, the situation in print media is still very hard. Journalists are trying to have some kind of influence on public thinking, and most of them are still very subjective. The most partial printed media organizations are: Alia, Asaval-Dasavali and Kviris Kronika, which are working with multiple violations,” Jalagua stated.
