Thirty years after declaring independence from the Soviet Union, Georgia is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan, with a highly connected young population and a robust media scene. But where do Georgia’s people turn to find reliable information – and how can truly independent media find financial support to continue? Our researchers set out to learn how.

In a media market where so many outlets have biases to match their financial backers, where do you go to find trusted information?

After 30 years of independence, Georgia has a relatively free media scene – scoring 60 out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index in 2021, ahead of Poland and Japan. It enshrines freedom of speech in its constitution and has a large number of media outlets serving a population of four million people, held in part to account by a Broadcasters’ Code of Conduct.

But misinformation and political influence over media content abounds, and it’s hard for audiences to know what to trust. As part of our Eastern Partnership project to support independent media and improve editorial standards, we set out to learn how the Georgian people consume media, and how they feel about what they can access. In turn, our research would help inform the strategy and media programmes of our partners - Studio Monitori, Mtis Ambebi, Netgazeti and Batumlebi.

We took a wide measure, with representatives from five regions of the country, through 30 online focus group sessions and 48 in-depth interviews. Our respondents were equally divided between men and women, ranged in age from 18 to over 55, and included people with disability, people identifying as LGBTQI, and ethnic minorities – including Armenian, Azeri and Russian language speakers.

What did we learn?

Our researchers found that overall, television and online sources of news are popular, with a perception of high levels of freedom of expression, but also with an understanding that they need to look at multiple sources of information to get beyond bias.

“It is positive that media is free but it is negative that they often spread fake news for the sake of having more followers,” said a 46-year-old woman in rural Adjara, in southern Georgia on the Black Sea cost.

“Probably, we can say that there is a variety of media, and if you do not like the information received on one channel, you can get information from other channels. In other words, I think this diversity is positive, you can choose which one to watch,” said a 20-year-old female student, also in rural Adjara.

Older people still follow familiar patterns of starting and ending their day with television, their primary source of media and information, while younger people follow online sources on smartphones. Younger people, in particular, are more likely to explore a diverse number of sources, including Georgian sites such as Interpress News, On.ge, Publika, Radio Liberty and Netgazeti, and international sources including ��̳ and CNN.

The role of language

For minority groups, their choice of media was primarily defined by the language offering; they felt their interests were not often represented in national media, and that society is not receiving enough information about their traditions and cultures.

“Journalists do not come to Svaneti, and do not broadcast anything about us, either good or bad. We have severe winters here, often no electricity, the roads are blocked, and we want this to be shown to others too,” said a 50-year old woman in Svaneti, a landlocked province in Georgia’s northwest which is home to the Svans ethnic group.

Our researchers also discovered a paradox in social media use: a majority of respondents reported going online daily, and their most common online source of information is Facebook, followed by YouTube. Yet Facebook was also identified as one of the least-trusted sources of information.

The future of independent media in Georgia

In researching how respondents felt about the Georgian media landscape, we found that audiences highly value neutrality and professionalism when choosing news, and they believe that independent media should be free from political party or government influence in editorial policy.

We also probed to find which media outlets and brands our respondents would support, in a hypothetical scenario in which they had 100 Georgian lari (about £24) to spend on media of their choice, to help it to continue to publish.

Overall, participants said they would financially support media they trust, including online sources, and recognised that regional and smaller media outlets would need more support than national outlets.

Younger audiences were more likely to say that they would support non-commercial online sources of media, including those that rely on donors such as Netgazeti and Radio Liberty. And a range of participants – while unhappy with its current performance – said they would help to fund the Georgian Public Broadcaster, if it were neutral and able to reflect society’s diverse needs.

Yet, while respondents say that, in theory, they are willing to pay for media, most do not – and there are few opportunities to do so. Most respondents didn’t subscribe to news or to any other services, like those focused on shopping or fitness, though some did acknowledge subscriptions to on-demand services like Netflix or Spotify.

More impartial and trusted content

Our work in Georgia focuses on developing editorial skills and media independence, working to the editorial standards of the ��̳ to build journalism and content that is more impartial and more trusted.

Our partners - Studio Monitori, Mtis Ambebi, Netgazeti and Batumlebi - have covered a wide variety of issues – including the opposition boycott of a Georgian parliamentary election, the latest developments in the global pandemic, investigations into illegal construction and analysis on the impact on Georgia of Russian agreements with neighbouring countries Azerbaijan and Armenia.

We’re also working to help independent media find ways of becoming more financially sustainable, in a market where advertising revenue is rarely enough to pay the bills. Our research helps our partners understand market conditions, what content resonates most with audiences to keep them engaged, and how to attract new audiences, to help them increase advertising revenue and prepare for an uncertain future.

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Understanding media audiences in Georgia