Journalists associations
Several journalist associations were set up with international donor funds between 2005 and 2007. The Georgian Regional Media Association (GRMA) and the Georgian Association of Regional Television Broadcasters (GARB), which unite regional media organisations, have been the two most visible organisations, and their influence has grown over years.
GARB has lobbied successfully for legislative changes to serve interests of the regional television stations and took active part in the digital switchover process. By the end of 2017, the group of member TV stations, along with the director and staff journalists, left GARB. These stations, along with new founding members, launched a new association, the Alliance of Broadcasters (AB).
The Media Advocacy Coalition, established in 2011, is highly effective in advocating new and progressive legislation and in supporting independence and pluralism in media. The coalition has been instrumental in introducing the “must carry/must offer” rule into the Georgian broadcasting, obliging cable operators to carry signals of all TV stations and TV stations to offer signals to all cable operators. Presently, the coalition is actively monitoring the developments in the reform of the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Some watchdog organisations, such as Transparency International–Georgia, have strong media support and advocacy programs. TI Georgia has investigated irregularities on the media market, such as cross-ownerships and non-transparent advertising practices and monitored GPB’s fulfilment of public service function. The Media Development Foundation is active in tracing the effects and links between Georgian media and Russian propaganda channels as well as hate speech and discrimination in the media. The Institute of Development Freedom of Information has been active in access to information and Internet regulation activities. The Georgian Charter of Journalism Ethics has also been active in uniting journalists around 11 standards of ethical reporting (see in 3.2 Accountability systems).
Media.ge, Mediachecker.ge and Mythdetector.ge are industry publications, which report news and analyze about the developments in the Georgian media, and also publish research, standards and guidelines. Marketer.ge often discusses advertising trends and projects in the news media.