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Study and Research on Media Coverage of 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia

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Study and Research on Media Coverage of 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News Study and Research on Media Coverage of 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia Pre-Election Report on Monitoring of TV News Programmes Key Findings 1 September - 15 October 2020 This report was prepared and published by the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics with the support of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics is solely responsible for this report, whose contents can in no way be held to reflect the position of the European Union or the United Nations Development Programme. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 1 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News About the Project The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, as part of the EU/UNDP ‘Survey of Media Coverage of Georgian Parliamentary Elections 2020’ project, is monitoring the coverage of Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections by TV media. The monitoring began on 15 June 2020 and will run until December 2020, focusing upon the 12 following channels: First Channel (Georgian Public Broadcaster), Adjara Public Broadcaster, Mtavari Arkhi, Rustavi 2, Imedi, Formula, TV Pirveli, Maestro, Obiektivi, Caucasia, Palitra TV and Post TV. Monitoring Methodology The pre-election monitoring of major TV news programmes includes both quantitative and qualitative components. Quantitative indicators include airtime dedicated to subjects, direct and indirect speech and tone of coverage; and qualitative indicators include: balance, accuracy, facts-based coverage, and manipulation of footage and music. The tone of coverage is given to subjects when they are spoken about indirectly and when they speak about themselves, other subjects or general issues. The diagrams show three categories of tone: positive (green), neutral (yellow), and negative (red). When the airtime allocated to each subject is counted, its tone is then evaluated. Attention is also paid to the statements of journalists and respondents, as well as to the whole context of stories. During qualitative monitoring, attention is paid to the balance or extent to which several different opinions are presented around the issue covered in the stories, as well as to the accuracy with which the monitor observes the relevance of the journalist’s conclusions with the materials used in the story (e.g. footage, respondents’ comments). Main Trends: The monitoring revealed that the polarization of TV news programmes is even more intense than during the first reporting period; that instances of negative coverage and defamation of the opposition by pro-Government TV channels increased sharply; and that TV stations that are critical of the Government increased their negative tone towards the ruling team and the Government. The political party to which the most airtime was dedicated was the ‘Georgian Dream’, followed by the ‘United National Movement’ and ‘European Georgia’. The ‘Georgian Dream’ was most positively covered by POSTV (51%). The tone of 70% of the Mtavari Channel’s coverage of the ‘Georgian Dream’ was negative. The ‘United National Movement’ was most positively covered by the Mtavari Channel, the latter The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 2 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News dedicating 19% of its airtime to the UNM. The coverage tone for this party was the most negative (97%) on Obiektivi. Support for the ‘United National Movement’ and Mikheil Saakashvili clearly catches the eye on the Mtavari Channel. The most positive coverage of ‘European Georgia’ was to be found on the Mtavari Channel, with a positive tone of 20% of the airtime dedicated to it, whereas the most negative coverage was observed on Obiektivi, with a negative tone of 87% of total airtime. 50% of the airtime allocated to the Government on Imedi TV was positive. POSTV dedicated the most time to Mikheil Saakashvili, but the tone of this coverage was the most negative (83%). The most critical tone towards the Government was observed on Formula, with 73% of total airtime being negative. Channel One of the Public Broadcaster dedicated the most time to the Government. The most positive coverage was that of Giorgi Gakharia, the Prime Minister, with 29% of total airtime being positive. Obiektivi continues to be the only channel that allocates much airtime to the ‘Alliance of Patriots’. The Mtavari, Formula and Pirveli channels are all three characterized by their sharply critical attitude towards the authorities. Imedi, POSTV and Maestro are pro-Government channels. Imedi and POSTV used most of their airtime to discredit the opposition and cover them negatively. As in previous years, the problem remains that almost all the channels continue to lack in-depth investigative stories linked to electoral topics that would help voters to make informed choices. Compared to the previous monitoring period, statements containing gender-based stereotypes and discrimination are almost never reported without comments. Similar to the previous monitoring period, xenophobic content was observed on Obiektivi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 3 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News ANNEX:ANNEX: Diagrams.Diagrams. Tone of Coverage Tone. of Coverage Tone of Coverage GPB September 1 - October 15 Positive Neutral Negative Government 18 73 9 Georgian Dream 24 55 21 European Georgia 15 76 9 United National Movement 73 21 Prime Minister 29 70 Lelo for Georgia 18 80 Strategy Aghmashenebeli 86 Tone of Coverage Rustavi 2 September 01 - October 15, 2020 Positive Neutral Negative Georgian Dream 20 65 15 United National Movement 14 67 19 Government 15 82 3 European Georgia 85 9 Lelo for Georgia 82 Mikheil Saakashvili 40 59 Prime Minister 12 87 The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 4 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News Tone of Coverage Mtavari September 01 - October 15 2020 Positive Neutral Negative Georgian Dream 28 70 United National Movement 19 77 Government 50 49 Mikheil Saakashvili 29 68 European Georgia 2077 Local Government 40 60 Strength in Unity 32 67 Tone of Coverage Formula September 01 - October 15 2020 Positive Neutral Negative Georgian Dream 10 22 68 Government 26 73 European Georgia 90 United National Movement 86 10 Lelo for Georgia 91 Local Government 2276 Strategy Aghmashenebeli 88 The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 5 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News Tone of Adjara TV September 01 - October 15 2020 Positive Neutral Negative Georgian Dream 34 53 13 United National Movement 6 75 19 Local Government 26 57 17 Government of Adjara 23 74 3 Government 12 68 20 European Georgia 14 81 Lelo for Georgia 29 68 Tone of Coverage Imedi Sepember 01 - October 15 Positive Neutral Negative Georgian Dream 30 68 2 Government 50 49 United National Movement 32 67 Prime Minister 1684 Mikheil Saakashvili 24 76 European Georgia 35 65 Local Government The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 6 Elections Media Monitoring for 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Georgia TV News Methodology The Objective of the Study and the Research Questions The social network monitoring carried out during the period of 2020 Parliamentary Elections aims to explore what type of information reaches users daily through the social network about ongoing political events in the country. Considering the fact that Facebook is the most popular social net- work platform in Georgia, monitoring has been carried out to find out how this platform is used by the traditional media, government bodies and electoral subjects and what type of information users receive through Facebook during the election period in Georgia. Correspondingly, the study aims to answer the following research questions: What type of media outlets have access to the widest audiences via Facebook? What types of media products reach the widest audiences? How reliable is the information which is spread to the widest audiences? What is the ratio between more or less reliable information spread via the social network and problematic media products? How does the traditional media, in particular, online and TV media use their Facebook pages to disseminate daily information during the electoral period? What kind of information is disseminated through most popular pages and largest open groups? How is the social media used by government agencies, political parties and individual politicians as a platform for spreading information during electoral period? Observation method and sampling To seek answers to the research questions, daily observation of the following sources was carried out: 1) Facebook pages of 13 online media outlets; 2) Facebook pages of 6 TV channels; 3) 60 open groups; 4) 137 popular pages; 5) Facebook pages of the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, The Mayor of Tbilisi, the head of the Government of Adjara, the Government of Adjara, 11 ministries and 4 ministers; The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics 7.
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