Media is an important tool for democratic accountability. A free, independent, plural and sustainable media can provide oversight of government and business activities; raise citizen awareness of issues that affect them; provide criticism of the powerful and elite; and act as a voice for the citizenry. The media receives special protection and special focus in good governance initiatives because an aware and informed public and a strong fourth estate is an important check on the power of government.

Georgia’s media today is free, independent and plural but at times it is not sustainable, and many journalists and media agencies lack the skills to fulfill the oversight role so necessary to keep government accountable. TI Georgia’s activities within the Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance program will work to remedy the second of these weaknesses by providing capacity development to journalists and media outlets.

Experience has shown that formal training on its own is insufficient to develop the necessary skills for in-depth, investigative and enterprising reporting. Issues-based and skills-based training must be followed by on-going support in the use of new skills and ideas. For this reason TI Georgia will provide a mixture of formal training for identified media outlets in Tbilisi and the regions, in-situ mentoring opportunities and on-going helpdesk support. In addition, TI Georgia will develop useful reference material for journalists on how to identify, collect, analyse and visualize data for reporting on government and political activities.

Transparency International (TI) Georgia will support this objective: Journalists demonstrate accountable and ethical reporting on public interest issues including progress towards key government reforms of the USAID-funded Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance.

TI Georgia will continue and expand on its efforts to empower journalists with data journalism principles and improve their skills to investigate and efficiently monitor government actions and policy related issues.