Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy 1 and Development Institute for War and Peace Reporting REGIONAL MEDIA MAP OF GEORGIA Financed by European Commission Project Georgia Regional Media Development and Public Accountability Tbilisi 2005 2 © Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Tbilisi ISBN 99928-37-76-4 Regional Media Map of Georgia. Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Tbilisi, 2005 1, Merab Alexidze, Tbilisi, Georgia, 0193 Tel. 995 32 334081, Fax 334163 Web-site: http://www.cipdd.org 3 CONTENTS Purpose of the Study and Methodology Used .............................................. 5 Samtskhe-Javakheti ................................................................................... 13 Newspaper Samkhretis Karibche (The Southern Gate) ............................. 39 Kvemo Kartli ............................................................................................ 42 Kakheti ...................................................................................................... 70 Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti ........................................................................ 111 Ajara ....................................................................................................... 165 Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti ................................................... 191 Mtskheta-Mtianeti ................................................................................... 201 Shida Kartli ............................................................................................. 216 Imereti ..................................................................................................... 235 Charts Depicting the Regional Media Situation in Georgia ..................... 280 4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY AND METHODOLOGY USED In December 2003, the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development initiated a study of the media situation in the regions of Georgia. The purpose of the study is to draw a general picture of media development in the regions of Georgia and to identify major problems that hinder the development of the media – especially the print media – in the regions, and also to find ways to improve the work of regional media organisations. This study forms part of a project entitled Georgia Regional Media Development and Public Accountability, which is financed by the European Commission within the framework of the European Initiative for Democ- racy and Human Rights and aims to provide support to the print media in Georgia. The project is being implemented by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (London, Great Britain) with the participation of the Caucasus Institute of Peace, Democracy and Development (Tbilisi, Geor- gia). Five print media organisations in various parts of Georgia have been selected within the framework of the project, and they are provided with support to raise their professional level, improve their organisational struc- ture and improve their technical equipment. At the same time, the project plans also include studying the media situation in the regions of Georgia, with the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development being responsible for implementing this task. The first stage of the study comprised 15 towns in various regions of Georgia: Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Bolnisi, Gori, Gurjaani, Telavi, Zugdidi, Lanchkhuti, Marneuli, Senaki, Kutaisi, Poti, Chokhatauri, and Khashuri. The small number of sites can be explained by the fact that the objective of the study at that stage was to draw a general picture that would enable the project to identify practical priorities. As the result of this stage, a first and incomplete version of the Media Map of Georgia was created. In April 2004, the Caucasus Institute started to implement the second stage of the study comprising all of Georgia’s regions,1 which resulted in 1 Studies were conducted in 10 of the 11 regions of Georgia: Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Shida Kartli, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Imereti, Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, Guria, Ajara. The Regional Media Map of Georgia does not reflect the media situation in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. 5 the creation of the complete version of the Regional Media Map of Geor- gia. The findings of the study according to region will be posted on the websites of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development: www.iwpr.net & www.cipdd.org The conception of the Media Map has been jointly elaborated by both organizations involved in the project. Malkhaz Saldadze and George Shubitidze participated in the creation of the Media Map. General supervi- sion for preparing the report was provided by Ghia Nodia. In all cases discussed, the study is based on interviews done locally by the Caucasus Institute of Peace, Democracy and Development researchers with representatives of the media, local governments, civil organisations and societies, and also with randomly selected members of the public. In addition, an analysis of media production has also been used. MAIN FINDINGS OF THE STUDY This study is based on the findings of field research undertaken be- tween April 2004 and December 2005. During 2005, summary reports were written of the research that had been conducted, according to which the text of Regional Media Map2 of Georgia was prepared, and its structure was based on the order in which research was conducted in each region. General Picture The media space across the different regions of Georgia forms a very diverse picture. This is due to many factors: economy, geographic location and the size of the region. Moreover, there is a lot of differences between various towns within the regions themselves3 . In addition, the print media differs in its circulation and periodicity according to regions. The average circulation of newspapers ranges from 2 The first report prepared within the framework of the project Development of Regional Media in Georgia and Civil Accountability was named Media Map of Georgia. Considering that the study did not cover the media in the capital city, the group of researchers from the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development de- cided that the complete version of this study should be titled the Regional Media Map of Georgia. 3 A detailed discussion of these differences can be found in the relevant section for each region. 6 500 to 1,000 copies, though, sometimes circulation reaches 3,500 copies, but there are also cases when a newspaper has a circulation of only 200 copies. On average they come out once a week, but there are newspapers which are published once a fortnight or once a month. In fact, even such periodicity cannot be maintained. As for ownership, in the regional print media state-owned organisations prevail. Differences among electronic media organisations are caused by the size of their coverage areas, airtime, and the length and number of their own programmes within this airtime. Regions are rarely covered in full, though television and radio companies normally manage to broadcast in most of the region, or in the towns and neighbouring areas to where they operate. Ajara is the only region with a nation-wide broadcasting company. As for airtime, the electronic media broadcasts either for 24 or for 12-16 hours. It should be pointed out that most part of regional television and radio companies’ airtime is filled with programmes from Tbilisi-based broad- casting companies. On average, the regional electronic media’s own airtime lasts for two to five hours, which is used to broadcast news, educational- analytical and entertainment programmes, and also commercial announce- ments. Some radio stations stand out among other regional electronic media for their level of development, and are close to the standards of modern journalism. They also are members of the Radio Network of Georgia. In terms of ownership, most of the regional electronic media are private organisations. There are rare cases when the local government is one of the founders; some electronic media operate on the basis of local non-govern- mental organisations (e.g. in Samegrelo). In terms of values, the private sector media is more open to liberal principles and norms than the governmental media, though this is not the case with all of them. The main barrier for the development of the local media is the lack of efficiency. Due to a lack of technical and human resources, both the print and electronic media are unable to report on a complete spectrum of events on a timely basis (this issue is more of a problem for the print media, with its low periodicity and circulation). Hence the public gets most of its news from the central press and television. Economic Basis of the Media Economic stability is the biggest problem faced by the regional media. The advertisement market that would ensure the financial welfare of the 7 local media is underdeveloped. In bigger towns and administrative centres, though the economic infrastructure is weakly developed, the private or state sector makes some orders to local newspapers, television and radio stations, but in regional centres media organisations lack even this. It appears that independent media organisations can only survive if they are involved in unions that will bring them financial benefit: they should either participate in coalition or media development projects and programmes run by inter- national organisations, or cooperate with the local government or local political