Georgia: pre-election report shows mounting tensions across all media

On 30 September, the European Union and UNDP released a joint pre-election media monitoring report. The research shows that tensions between media camps have only increased between the parliamentary elections in 2020 and the local elections in 2021.

According to the report, polarisation over the monitoring period (July-September 2021), was pronounced across all sectors of the national and, to a lesser degree, regional and local media. Some of the media outlets, which were relatively balanced last year, are now showing clear signs of political preference.

At the same time, the report shows that the political pressures and polarisation were notably less evident across the entire digital media sector, compared to television.

The EU and UNDP also studied the behaviour of political players on social media, and discovered they used their Facebook pages to spread critical information about opponents but, in most cases, stayed within the ethical frames of an election campaign.

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Press release