media

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OC Media editor-in-chief Robin Fabbro and executive director Mariam Nikuradze covering a pro-EU rally in Tbilisi in June 2022. Photo: Tata Shoshiashvili/OC Media.

Democracy

OC Media refuses to register as ‘foreign agent’ in Georgia as government deadline passes

by OC Media

•2 min read

OC Media has refused to register with the Georgian Government as an organisation ‘carrying out the interests of a foreign power’ after the deadline to do so passed on Monday. OC Media, a regional news platform registered and headquartered in Georgia, joins a majority of local media and non-governmental organisations in boycotting the controversial legislation. OC Media co-founder and executive director Mariam Nikuradze stated that registering in the database ‘would go against our mission’

Media outside Tbilisi's city court on 4 April 2022. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media

Analysis

Datablog | Georgians’ attitudes and beliefs associated with polarised media preferences

by Givi Silagadze

•5 min read

A recent NDI/CRRC survey suggests that Georgians have markedly different beliefs about the present state and future of their country, regardless of their party sympathies, depending on whether the television channel they trust is pro-government or pro-opposition. Georgian media is widely considered to be heavily polarised, with its focus ‘almost entirely on the party-political agenda’, according to one respondent in a recent DW Akademie study. This polarisation may have reached the point o

Azerbaijan

Opinion | How Azerbaijan’s media ignores anti-queer violence

by Vahid Aliyev

•3 min read

The silence of Azerbaijani media as violence against queer communities surges, is not only irresponsible but actively contributes to the dehumanisation of queer people. It is nothing less than complicity. I remember some people saying, ‘Well, actually, Baku is not that bad of a place to be for queers.’ Though, according to ILGA-Europe’s annual Rainbow Europe Map, since 2015 Azerbaijan has been ranked as the worst country for the LGBTIQ+ community. In the last several years, there has been a

Analysis

Datablog | How different are people who trust different TV channels in Georgia?

by Givi Silagadze

•5 min read

The Georgian media landscape is often described as pluralistic but ‘extremely polarised’. But does the media merely reflect the prevailing political polarisation or cause it? The majority of sizeable TV channels in Georgia are politically biased. At the same time, for seven in ten Georgians, TV remains the main source of information. While this is a classic chicken and egg problem, arguably, causation flows both ways. Nonetheless, it has been documented that partisan media can polarise cons

Editorial

Editorial | The authorities’ silence has fuelled a media frenzy in the wake of the Tbilisi Siege

by OC Media

•3 min read

The Georgian authorities’ decision to remain silent on the events surrounding last week’s 21-hour counterterror siege in Tbilisi has fuelled frenzy in much of the country’s media. This has demonstrated a damaging ineptitude in the state’s handling of strategic communications during a crisis, and highlighted major flaws in the media’s ability to handle such topics sensitively and sensibly. [Read in Georgian — სტატია ქართულ ენაზე] The botched counterterror operation which began on 21 Nov

Bera Ivanishvili

Georgian Public Broadcaster ‘thankful’ for equipment from Ivanishvili’s son

by OC Media

•2 min read

General Director of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) Vasil Maghlaperidze has said the broadcaster is ‘thankful for the gift’ from the son of former Georgian Prime Minister billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili’s son Bera announced on 30 October he would gift equipment for a TV studio to GPB after an initial deal to rent the equipment caused controversy. The agreement between GPB and rapper Bera Ivanishvili’s Silk Factor Studio would have been worth ₾372,000 ($149,000) over the

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s media — spreading fear and hate of queer people

by Vahid Aliyev

•5 min read

When discussing queer topics, Azerbaijan’s media throws the most basic journalistic ethics completely out of the window. Instead of reporting objectively, the media spreads hate and discrimination, and is a tool of the country’s propaganda. Homosexuality is still a taboo topic in Azerbaijan, and queer people face discrimination in many aspects of life, and in many different fields, such as: education, healthcare, employment, housing, and the military and police. When queer topics are dis