The FINANCIAL — Media monitoring reports released on 6 October show growing polarisation and political bias in media coverage in the run-up to the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Supported by the EU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the reports released this week cover the period May to September, based on the monitoring of 46 national and local media outlets – television, radio, print and online.
The Parliamentary elections in Georgia are the first since the Association Agreement with the European Union is fully in force. “Elections are always a test and Georgia has a great opportunity to consolidate the democratic gains achieved during the previous years,” said EU ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman, adding: “EU-UNDP media monitoring is a valuable tool to measure and highlight the media’s contribution to this process. I am happy to note that the results show more balanced and informative media than in 2012.”
“Specific examples and analysis included in the media monitoring reports assist the media in performing its duties during elections paying more attention to the cases of unbalanced coverage and hate speech. One of the most important goals of media monitoring is to stir proactive public discussion and contribute to establishing accountable and responsible relations between the media and society,” said Niels Scott, Head of UNDP in Georgia.
Election media monitoring is being implemented by three Georgian civil society organisations – the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics for TV channels, Internews-Georgia for radio, and the Civic Development Institute (CDI) for press and online media, with assistance from the European Union and UNDP, according to EU Neighbours East Info.
Media monitoring was launched in May 2016 and will continue through November 2016.
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