The mass media in Georgia refers to mass media outlets based in the Republic of Georgia. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. The Constitution of Georgia guarantees freedom of speech. Georgia is the only country in its immediate neighborhood where the press is not deemed unfree.Freedom House, Freedom of the Press - 2016, Retrieved: 4 May 2016 As a country in transition, the Georgian media system is under transformation.

The media environment of Georgia remains the freest and most diverse in the South Caucasus,http://www.enpi-info.eu/eastportal/news/latest/38565/Media-freedom-in-Eastern-Partnership-countries:-Georgia-tops-list,-Ukraine-improves-position despite the long-term politicisation and polarisation affecting the sector. The political struggle for control over the public broadcaster left it without a direction in 2014.Freedom House, Georgia 2015 Press Freedom report

A large percentage of Georgian households have a television, and most have at least one radio. Most of Georgia's media companies are headquartered in its capital and largest city, Tbilisi.

History Independent media blossomed in Georgia in the post-Soviet period, with 600 newspapers registered between 1990 and 2000, starting with 7 Days and Resonance. The TV channel Rustavi 2, established in 1994, brought editorial freedom on air. Media soon become one of the most trusted institutions in the country (with a 73% approval rating it was only second to the Georgian Orthodox Church in 2003).Maia Mikashavidze, Georgia #Introduction , EJC Media Landscapes, circa 2010

Government pressures on the free media increased together with their criticism of corruption and abuse of power. Rustavi 2 was twice threatened with closure, the prominent TV anchor Giorgi Sanaia was killed, and several other journalists were attacked.

The media had a big role in the coverage of the rigged Georgian parliamentary election, 2003, leading up to the Rose Revolution. The numbers released by the Central Election Commission were openly contradicted by exit polls and parallel vote tabulations reported by the Georgian media. After the Rose Revolution a new legislation was introduced that guaranteed free speech and decriminalised defamation.

With the coming to power of Mikhail Saakashvili, the government took on the news agenda. Two TV stations and several newspapers closed down, while other channels were taken over by government-friendly private business groups. Journalists increasingly resorted to self-censorship. Media/government relations worsened in the following years, with the 2007 closure of the critical Imedi TV station among political protests, as well as the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. In 2009 press freedom was among the top political issues in Georgia, with a battle between government and opposition for control over the public service broadcaster and the denunciation of pro-governmental media outlets, which also included various forms of intimidation of journalists (e.g. pickets and "corridors of shame"). Saakashvili later pledged to move toward a “more open and unbiased” media landscape and to upheld the independence of the public service broadcaster.

Legislative framework The media legislation of Georgia is deemed progressive and liberal. The Constitution of Georgia protects press freedom.Maia Mikashavidze, Georgia #Media legislation , EJC Media Landscapes, circa 2010 It states at Article 19: Every individual has the right to freedom of speech, thought, conscience, religion and belief; The persecution of a person on the account of his/her speech, thought, religion or belief as well as the compulsion to express his/her opinion about them shall be impermissible; These rights may not be restricted unless the exercise of these rights infringes upon the rights of other individuals. And at Article 24: Everyone has the right to freely receive and impart information, to express and impart his/her opinion orally, in writing or by in any other means. Mass media shall be free. Censorship shall be impermissible; Neither the state nor particular individuals shall have the right to monopolise mass media or means of dissemination of information; The exercise of the rights enumerated in the first and second paragraphs of the present Article may be restricted by law on such conditions which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of ensuring state security, territorial integrity or public safety, for preventing of crime, for the protection of the right and dignity of others, for prevention of the disclosure of the information acknowledged as confidential or for ensuring the independence and impartiality of justice.

The Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression (2004) recognises and protects the right to freedom of expression as an inherent and supreme human value and forbids censorship. It guarantees the rights of Georgia residents as well as media institutions (newspapers, publishers, and the Public Broadcaster). It includes sources confidentiality and court guarantees. Anyone can apply to a court “to prevent a violation of a right guaranteed and protected under this law” or “to eradicate the consequences of the violation” (Article 6). The burden of proof lies with the initiator of the restriction and not with the involved journalist.

Defamation in Georgia is decriminalised since 2004 - the first country in the Caucasus region to do so. The law foresees that public figures should accept much more criticism than ordinary citizen, given their responsibilities towards citizens and the influence on society of their decision.

The 1999, Civil Code includes a Freedom of Information Section that guarantees access (immediate, or within a 10-days deadline) to public information that is not a state secret. Implementation remains problematic. The post-2012 governments have pledged to improve access, in line with the Open Government Partnership. Public agencies are now required to establish websites, publish information online, and accept electronic requests for information. Most of them complied by 2014. Challenges remain in unifying and expanding the open data initiatives.

The Law on Broadcasting regulates the allocation of licenses for radio frequencies and set the legal basis for the Georgian Public Broadcaster. 2013 amendments universalised the "must carry/must offer" principle, preventing cable operators from politically suppressing certain TV channels from their offers. This was positively received by the OSCE RFoM.

The Georgian Tax Code exempts from VAT the printing and distribution costs of the print press.Chapter 33, Article 230, point1/ u

Other relevant laws for press and media freedom include the Law on State Secret and Law on Copyright and Adjacent Rights.

Status and self-regulation of journalists

In December 2009, the journalists gather by the Civil Society Institute adopted a Georgian Charter of Journalism Ethics and established the Georgian Charter of Journalism Ethics Association.Maia Mikashavidze, Georgia #Trade Unions , EJC Media Landscapes, circa 2010

In 2009, the Georgian National Communications Commission adopted the Broadcasters’ Code of Conduct, as required by the 2004 Law on Broadcasting, which defines it as “a normative act, passed by the Commission … determining the rules of conduct for license holders.”Maia Mikashavidze, Georgia #Accountability systems , EJC Media Landscapes, circa 2010

The Georgian Public Broadcaster has a progressive Code of Conduct, as well as an ombudsman to receive viewers complaints.

The Media Council was established in 2005 by nine national and 11 regional media organisations, three NGOs and individual journalists. It was tasked with monitoring and enforcing the Journalists Code of Ethics as well as reviewing complaints. However, it failed to establish cross-media ethical standards. Founding organisations soon refused to pay their membership fees.

An alternative Press Council was founded in 2005 by four leading newspapers which had denounced the Media Council launch as an attempt at censorship. The Press Council is equally dysfunctional.

In 2010, the OSCE RFoM intervened to recall Georgian journalists of the professional duties they have committed themselves to, after a controversial fake report by Imedi TV, condemning "irresponsible journalism and the impact it may have on media freedom and security". Imedi's report, claiming that President Saakashvili had been assassinated and Russian troops were close to Tbilisi, was reported to have spread panic, while carrying no warning of its fictitious nature (see 2010 Georgian news report hoax). The report had been swiftly condemned by the GNCC. According to Mijatovic, "Broadcasters and other media outlets ought to behave responsibly and not mislead the public by spreading false information. This is of particular importance in Georgia and other countries whose societies may be more prone to alarm due to recent armed conflicts."

Media outlets

Georgia has many print outlets, but with very limited circulation numbers.

Print media

Newspapers in Georgia provide pluralist views to the public, have loyal readerships and are the main source of information for around one fourth of the citizens.Maia Mikashavidze, Georgia #Print Media , EJC Media Landscapes, circa 2010

In 2010, there were 502 registered newspapers in Georgia: 376 national ones (registered with the Department of Statistics in Tbilisi) and 126 regional ones. Of these, only 28 Tbilisi-based and 61 peripheral ones had regular publications. Kviris Palitra (კვირის პალიტრა) and Rezonansi (Resonance) are the most well-reputed. Other press outlets include the dailies Alia, Akhali Taoba, Sakartvelos Respublika, Mtavari Gazeti, Versia and Asaval-Dasavali (with different professional standards) as well as the best-seller weekly Kviris Palitra. Most newspapers are based in the capital and Tbilisi-based news outlets are also distributed in the peripheral regions.

Regional print media outlets are mainly weeklies, including Batumi-based Batumelebi, the Kutaisi-based Akhali Gazeti, PS, Guria News, Kakhetis Khma, Spektri and Samkhretis Karibche. Minority-language newspapers include Russian-language ones (Svobodnaya Gruziya, Golovinski Prospect, Argumenti i Facti), as well as the bilingual Komsomolskaya Pravda v Gruzii and Ajaria. Armenian-language newspapers include Javakhk, Arshadius and the bilingual Samkhretis Karibche. Azerbaijani-language newspapers include Gurjistan, Hairat, and the bimonthly bilingual Timer published by the Civil Development Agency.

English-language magazines The Messenger, The Financial, Georgia Today, The Georgian Times, and Georgian Business Week cater mostly to the international community in Tbilisi.

Cheap and glossy magazines are on the rise. They offer a mix of gossip, entertainment and politics. Titles include Sarke, Tbiliselebi, Gza and Raitingi, as well localised versions of international outlets (such as Cosmopolitan Georgia) as well as Tskheli Shokoladi and Liberal (by M-Publishing).

Circulation data are not released by publishers. Average circulations were at 4,500-5,000 for dailies in Tbilisi, 2,000 for the regional press, and 25,000-30,000 for weeklies.

Publishing

Radio broadcasting

Radio broadcast stations: AM 7, FM 12, shortwave 4 (1998) Radios: 3.02 million (1997)

Tbilisi radio stations include Imedi Radio (105.9FM), Fortuna, and Radio 105. Imedi mainly concentrates on news and commentary, but broadcasts pop music as well, particularly at night-time.