UNDP and EU scrutinize standards of Georgian media
By Etuna Tsotniashvili
Monday, July 18
Ethnic and religious minorities; poverty; human rights; environment protection; gender-based violence; judiciary; the displaced; and people with disabilities are the focus of the Tbilisi-based and regional media monitoring. Findings and final results will be available later on this year, in October.
“I am pleased to see a strong team of professionals with very real commitment to create media monitoring expertise in Georgia. I also welcome interest and cooperation from the Georgian media,” said Jamie McGoldrick, UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia. “The main objective of this program is that we are really trying to improve professional standards and we are trying to do it with different methods. One of them is media monitoring, working very closely with civil society organisations... We believe that the results will show improved standards,” McGoldrick told The Messenger.
Speaking at the opening, Ambassador Philip Dimitrov, Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia, said: “Civil society is a watchdog of the media. Its unbiased and credible monitoring promotes independent and professional reporting and helps citizens make informed decisions.”
The Caucasus Research Resource Centre (CRRC); Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA); Civil Society Institute (CSI); Civic Development Institute (CDI); Human Rights Centre (HRC); International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED); and Internews Georgia have been selected for their interest in monitoring Georgian media as well as their institutional capacities. The seven organizations went through a series of professional training delivered by a reputable Slovak agency MEMO '98 respected for its 10 years of experience in media monitoring.
Rasto Kuzel, Executive Director of MEMO ’98 talked about his company’s experience regarding media monitoring saying that media monitoring is very important for any country’s democratic development and journalists should be well aware of the international standards of news coverage, underlying that journalists do not always enjoy being observed and monitored however they will all learn from the process.
“Do you know which industry is the least transparent one? This is actually journalism, because journalists are here to control the government but do not want to be controlled by anyone. So that is why it is really very important to do media monitoring and that is very important to give some feedback on their work,” Kuzel said. “Our goal is to engage them in some kind of discussion to really show them the international standards of how the coverage is presented on important issues in different countries,” he added.
Commenting with The Messenger, media analyst and Chairman of the Journalism Ethic Charter Council Zviad Koridze said that he welcomes such scrutiny of the Georgian media, and is especially happy that this monitoring process is organized by UN Development Programme with the support of the European Union.
“The direct obligation of the media is to be balanced, impartial and to defend professional standards, but as we face many problems regarding those issues in the media field the monitoring is necessary. It is especially welcome that the UN is doing it with the support of the European Union. An important thing is that the media should understand this process, it should not be worried about it but on the contrary should share in this,” Koridze said.
The media monitoring process is part of the larger initiative to increase independence and professionalism of the Georgian media and to provide balanced and neutral information to the public. With the help of Euro 745 000 in European Union funding, the project is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).