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Print Media Monitoring Report

May 11 – August 13, 2012

During the period of May 11 – August 13, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) carried out press monitoring within the frameworks of Election Media Monitoring Project. About 3,000 articles of 10 print outlets were evaluated. Following findings were made based on the obtained data:

The largest space is dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream and to the political subjects in this coalition almost in all the outlets except the magazine Tbiliselebi, where the space allocated to this organization does not exceed 2%. Together with this political organization, in most cases the President and government make up the top three.

Compared to other parliamentary opposition parties, most frequently we come across with Christian-Democratic Movement; however, the space allocated to this political force does not exceed 4%.

Out of opposition parties, coverage of People’s Council, Labor Party and Free Georgia is also frequent. Mostly there are interviews with the representatives of these parties.

In regards to the monitoring of visual materials, it should be pointed out that majority of photos with the most negative tone published in the media, are photos of the President. As for the positive photos, they mostly represent Bidzina Ivanishvili.

In some part of the monitored outlets, there is a sharply negative attitude expressed towards the President directly and also towards the current authorities in general. Other than the negative tone, journalists are also using unethical expressions and have an aggressive tone towards the authorities in the newspapers Alia, Kviris Kronika and Asaval-Dasavali.

Often the print media disseminates information that is not double-checked or verified. However, the newspaper Resonance deserves a

1ISFED – Election Media Monitoring (May 11 – August 13, 2012)

positive attention, as it tries in many cases to provide multifaceted coverage of issues to verify the fact.

Methodology and Analysis

Election media monitoring of the press consists of qualitative and quantitative components. The quantitative component includes the space allocated to the subjects and the tone of coverage. Components of the qualitative monitoring are: balance, accuracy, preparation of a fact-based article, language of the journalist/article.

Results of the quantitative analysis are provided in the attached diagrams. The space allocated to the subjects is provided in the diagrams in percentage. 100 per cent is regarded to be the total space allocated to all the subjects in each outlet during the specific monitoring period, which is indicated in the title of each diagram. Only those subjects are shown in the charts which were most covered in a particular media outlet, to which 1% or more of total space was allocated.

The coverage tone is assigned to a subject when the subject is mentioned in indirect speech and also when the subject’s quote is provided where the same subject is speaking about himself, about other subjects or about general issues. The diagrams show three categories of tones: positive (green), neutral (yellow) and negative (red). While counting the space allocated to the subject, the tone is also assessed at the same time. Emphasis is laid on the text of a journalist or a respondent, also the whole context of the article.

Tone-based evaluation of space allocated to the subjects is presented two ways: evaluation of the total space allocated to the subjects in a specific outlet according to the tone and also the tone of coverage/mentioning of subjects by a journalist. Coverage tone is provided in percent. In the first case 100 per cent means the total area dedicated to the subject in the given outlet, and in the second case – the space of speaking/writing about this subject by a journalist.

During qualitative monitoring, the emphasis is laid on balance, i.e. at what extent the article provides several different opinions about the covered topic; also the accuracy, and for its evaluation the monitor observes how relevant the journalist’s opinion is to the materials used in the article, if there are mistakes in the names, figures and identities of respondents.


It is also evaluated if the article has been constructed based on the facts, which first of all means whether the information provided by one source has been double-checked, and if the reader has an opportunity after reading the article to know correct information about the happening.

During the monitoring, attached illustrations are also observed, if any of the monitoring subjects are reflected in them. Other than determining the space, tone of the illustration is also assessed based on what kind of disposition it generates for the reader.

Another component of the qualitative analysis is the language of article, which at some extent is similar to the journalist’s tone assessed during the quantitative analysis, but the difference is that here more emphasis is laid on the journalist’s words and phraseology during the qualitative analysis not only in regards to the subjects of monitoring, but also in regards to the whole article. In some cases the journalist is not writing about the subject of monitoring, but the text is still notable and interesting for the qualitative analysis.

Based on these components, findings of the monitoring for the period of May 11 – August 13 are represented below, per outlets.

Daily Publications

The Resonance

The space was almost equally distributed among the opposition and government subjects (President, government, authorities, parliament, ruling party), but the biggest attention is paid to the Coalition Georgian Dream out of the opposition political parties. The outlet tries to observe the journalism standards and provide verified and double-checked information to the readers. Newspaper articles are mostly critical towards the authorities, but we come across with unethical expressions almost never.

Among the monitoring subjects, the daily newspaper Resonance allocated the largest space to the Coalition Georgian Dream, to which 116,427 square centimeters, i.e. 35% of the total space was dedicated. The next subject is the government, which means the Cabinet of Ministers, to which much less space - 13% was dedicated. However, it should be pointed out as well that the next three subjects represent various branches of authorities, and if we


summarize the spaces/percentage dedicated to them, we will see that the newspaper covers the activities implemented by the current authorities with no less intensity. Among other political movements, the Resonance allocated space to the United National Movement, New Rights and Christian-Democratic Movement.

While evaluating the tone of the material we can see that the subject to which the largest space was allocated, was mostly covered with the neutral tone (82%), though negative and positive tones were also used for it. As for the subsequent subjects, there is not really much difference between the neutral and negative rates. This is especially applicable to the President (neutral – 47%, negative – 51%) and the United National Movement (neutral – 50%, negative – 49%).

After having a separate chart for the journalist’s tone it was revealed that not only other sources/subjects, but also the journalists themselves were expressing criticism towards the subjects.

The qualitative monitoring has revealed that the journalists are trying not to cover the issue from one side only. In some cases it is seen that the articles’ author tried to get a comment or information from another side (conventionally), but without any result.

As for the language used in the article, although we do not see unethical expressions in the Resonance, still, there are cases of observing the journalist’s negative disposition towards the authorities. For example, in the article published on July 30 “Akhalaia’s New Ministry”, the journalist’s negative tone is felt towards the Ministry of Internal Affairs and towards the government as well.

The 24 Saati (24 Hours)

Like Resonance, the “24 Saati” is issued daily and provides intensive coverage of current events, but this issue is offering less analytical articles to its readers. The 24 Saati is distinguished with the lack of illustrations too. There is little difference from the viewpoint of space allocated to the subjects. Neutral tone prevails towards the subjects, but there are cases of both negative and positive tones as well.


As it is the case with almost all the other monitored print media, the largest area was dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream (24%) in the “24 Saati”. It is followed by the government and the President with relatively less space: 20% and 15%, respectively. Other than this coalition, the “24 Saati” also covered other opposition political movements, such as: Christian-Democratic Movement (4%), Labor Party (3%) and New Rights (2%). Other political subjects got less than 2% or no space at all in the pages of the “24 Saati”. In total, 24,599 cm2 was allocated to the subjects of monitoring in this outlet.

In regards to the tone, the subjects were represented with neutral tone in the “24 Saati”. The positive tone is observed towards several subjects almost equally (the Christian-Democratic Movement, the government, the President), and the negative tone is observed towards the Coalition Georgian Dream (14%).

The qualitative analysis has revealed that in most cases there are several different sources represented in the articles of the “24 Saati”. Names and positions of respondents are usually provided to the readers correctly and accurately.

Articles in the “24 Saati” rarely have illustrations, which makes the provided information dry. Even those visual materials that are printed in the newspaper, are neutral and do not create any impression or disposition among readers.

Weekly newspapers

The Alia

The Alia is published twice a week and offers not only the news, but also interviews and analytical articles to its readers. During the monitoring period the largest space was allocated to the Coalition Georgian Dream in this outlet. There is almost no positive tone observed in the newspaper, the subjects are presented in a neutral or negative way. Journalists of this newspaper use unethical expressions in some cases towards various subjects, mostly towards the authorities.

The quantitative monitoring has revealed that out of 129,070 cm2 allocated to the subjects, the Coalition Georgian Dream has got 34%. Beside them, the most often covered top three subjects were the President (18%) and the


Government (13%). Other than these subjects, Alia allocated space to the People’s Council (7%), Labor Party (5%), Free Georgia (5%), United National Movement (4%), Christian-Democratic Movement (3%) and local self-government (2%).

Tone-based analysis of the material has revealed that there is a clearly negative attitude towards the government observed in this outlet. This is proved by the fact that 71% of the space allocated to the President, and 45% of the space allocated to the government is made with a negative tone, however, the opposition political organizations are represented with neutral tone. After making a separate evaluation based on the journalist’s tone, it was found out that the significant part of the negative tone towards the President and the government is expressed by journalists themselves.

As the result of qualitative analysis, the journalist’s language is most interesting, as far as the journalists of this outlet often use unethical expressions. In some cases the journalist himself/herself is not the author of such unethical expressions, but they quite often publish hate speech or abusive expressions used by the respondents, and sometimes the journalists use such expressions even as headlines. For example: in the issue of August 7, we can find an article with the deadline “He’s such a big “syri” (a derogatory word in Georgian) that he will arrange a real Syria here!” Other than the expressions of hate speech, there are cases of mentioning of president and other officials with irony: for example: Vanier the Eloquent, Iron Vano, Mikhail the Beacon, whose hair has turned gray but who has not matured yet, etc.

Other than unethical expressions, the outlet also uses illustrations for expressing a negative attitude.

Besides the language of the article, the monitoring was also focused on the provision of balanced and facts-based information. In many cases the Alia did not observe any balance, namely, mostly only one side’s position is represented about the issue discussed in the article. The newspaper offers many interviews to the readers where the respondents express their ideas, assumptions and concerns, or sometimes provide information, which is disseminated without being verified by the author of the article, however, the source is indicated, but the fact is not verified quite often.

The Kviris Palitra


The Kviris Palitra is published daily and, thus is more focused on a multifaceted coverage of events. However, there were cases identified during the monitoring, when there was no balance observed in the article and the facts were provided from one side only. Like other outlets, the largest area was dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream among the monitoring subjects. Negative tone prevails in regards to certain subjects.

There was no special picture created in regards to the space distribution in the Kviris Palitra. Like the above-mentioned outlets, the largest area was allocated to the Coalition Georgian Dream in Kviris Palitra (41%), and it is followed by the President, then the authorities and the government with relatively less rates. As for other subjects, only 3% or less was allocated to them. Among the opposition spectrum, the top ten most frequently covered subjects are: Christian-Democratic Movement, Free Georgia, People’s Council and New Rights. However, only 2% of the total area (45,796 cm2) or less was allocated to them.

In regards to the tones of subjects, it is noteworthy that the negative tone prevails towards the President, the authorities, the government, the local self-government and the United National Movement. After counting the journalist’s tone separately, it is clear that the significant part of the negative tone is attributed to the journalists.

Journalists of Kviris Palitra try to observe the journalist standards more or less and provide comprehensive and exhaustive information to the citizens. However, it is noteworthy that the articles provide the positions of only one side, or the ideas of one expert only, without double-checking the provided information or without discussing any different opinion.

We almost do not see any unethical expressions by the respondents or journalists in this newspaper. When there are cases like this, mostly this happens in the column, where a journalist can freely express his/her opinion about various issues or politicians.

The Kviris Kronika

The Kviris Kronika is a second outlet of Alia Holding, which provides summary and analysis of the whole week; however, most party of the newspaper is dedicated to the interviews. Here too, the largest space was dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream. There is a


positive tone also observed towards this political organization in this outlet. There are frequent cases of violating the standards by the journalists such as balance and provision of fact-based information to the readers. Like the Alia, there are often cases of unethical expressions towards various subjects in this outlet too.

In regards to the allocation of space among the subjects, there is a same situation in Kviris Kronika as in the previous newspaper. The largest area was dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream (35%), which is followed by the government (13%) and the President (8%).

As for the tone used towards the subjects, the negative tone prevails almost all of them except the Georgian Dream which is mostly covered with neutral tone and there was also 34% of positive tone observed towards it. Most often this happened in the articles that described wide scale rallies organized by the Georgian Dream.

Significant part of the material in the Kviris Kronika is represented with interviews, which provide unverified and single-sided information to the public. Sometimes the sources are speaking about the facts which need to be double-checked, but the newspaper provides them to the public the way it was reported by the source, without double-checking. Besides, sometimes the journalists are using anonymous sources for delivering the information that is difficult, yet still possible to verify with the source that would not hide away and that would add more credibility and reliability to the provided material. In regards to the accuracy it is notable that the journalists sometimes do not specify who the respondent is and based on what status they are speaking.

Like the Alia, the Kviris Kronika is not very careful about publishing unethical expression, and the journalists do not really care about using them. It is notable during the monitoring period that there were editorial articles published in the newspapers the Kviris Kronika and the Alia, which were full of hate and aggression towards the President and the current government. Other than the editorial articles, the journalists use unethical words and adjectives towards the current government even in ordinary analytical articles or news briefs.

The Asaval-Dasavali


While monitoring the Asaval-Dasavali, there is an eye-catching positive tone towards the Coalition Georgian Dream and a negative attitude towards the authorities. The Georgian Dream is the most frequently covered subject. There is no balance observed in many cases, and sometimes the articles do not have any source at all. There are many unethical expressions and negative photos published in the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali.

42% was allocated to the Georgian Dream to the subjects, which is followed by the President and the government. Less area is dedicated to other political parties in Asaval-Dasavali and sometimes there are cases when the interviews with other political party representatives are dedicated to the Georgian Dream and to its political plans.

Except the coalition and the authorities, the tone is neutral towards other political subjects and the journalist does not express any bias while speaking or writing about them. However, in case of the Coalition Georgian Dream, there is a journalist’s positive attitude clearly expressed towards this organization, and also there is a clearly expressed negative attitude towards the President and other representatives of the authorities. In some cases the journalist expresses hope in the article that the authorities will change and surreptitiously express support towards the opposition coalition. Some articles are dedicated only to the sharp criticism of current authorities by using hate speech. For example, there was an article published on July 2 with a headline “Dictator named “Beacon of Democracy””.

There is no balance observed in most number of articles in the Asaval-Dasavali. Some part of the articles is based on one source, and the other part is just what a journalist thought without referring to a source. We also come across with the negative opinions of journalists in other outlets, but in case of the Asaval-Dasavali, it is not clearly differentiated whether the article is a column or a journalist’s work, and neither is there any hint about this issue.

Weekly Magazines

Tabula

Compared to other outlets, Tabula is more balanced. It contains many analytical articles that provide different position to the readers regarding certain issues. In some cases, there is not only


different positions provided, but also the journalist’s attitude is seen in such articles. The articles are mostly constructed based on facts and have more than one source. We don’t come across with unethical expressions. Even in case of Tabula, the most frequently covered subject is the Coalition Georgian Dream.

Like other outlets, the first three subjects, are the Coalition Georgian Dream (42%), the government (31%) and the President (19%). There is a clear difference from the viewpoint of frequent of coverage between the samples of three and four subjects: the President got 19% of total space, and the subsequent subjects – (Parliament and local self-government) – only 2%-2%.

The tone used in regards to the subjects is mostly neutral in this outlet. There were cases of positive tone used during the monitoring period mostly towards the authorities, when the discussion was about the reform or initiative carried out by the authorities. However, the President, the government and the Coalition Georgian Dream, in particular, its leader were covered with a negative tone. The negative tone towards the President and the government was in most cases observed in the section “Verbatim” which shows comics of various politicians and their quotes.

From the viewpoint of journalism standards, the articles in Tabula mostly provide various sources and a reader has a chance to get information about various positions, although this has nothing to do with interviews, which are limited to one respondent only due to its format.

While monitoring the language of articles, there was no case of unethical expressions observed on Tabula.

Tbiliselebi

Unlike other outlets, the largest area was dedicated to the Parliament in the magazine Tbiliselebi. It is noteworthy that positive tone has not been observed to any monitoring subject. We encounter ironic expressions towards the subjects in this outlet.

Research findings revealed absolutely different picture from other outlets in regards to the space allocated to the subjects in Tbiliselebi. In total, 2% was allocated to the Coalition Georgian Dream here, whereas this subject has been most highlighted in all other outlets. Tbiliselebi allocated 2,070 cm2 to the monitoring subjects, and its biggest share (38%) was dedicated to the


Parliament of Georgia, then to the government (30%) and the Labor Party (9%).

The tone is sharply negative towards political subjects. It is noteworthy that isolation and separate counting of the journalist’s tone showed that the negative tone towards this or that subject was mostly made by the journalists themselves with their cynical expressions in some cases. For example: “Those lazybones lying on their sides, i.e. president’s votes in the exam’s office”; “ministers a.k.a. peacocks”. The journalists of this outlet do not reveal bias or any kind of sympathy towards any political subject or force, they write about the authorities and the opposition with equally negative tone.

In regards to the balance and accuracy of facts it should be pointed out that the significant part of the articles do not have any source, neither do they offer any different position or opinion to the reader. The journalists are sharing their ideas to the readers and it is not indicated anywhere whether these articles are columns or not.

Gza (the Road)

There is very scarce material about politics and politicians in the magazine Gza. Out of the monitoring subjects, the magazine most often covered the Coalition Georgian Dream, like other outlets. Neutral tone is prevailing towards this subject, but the tone is negative towards other subjects.

Most part of the material (40%) is dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream. Other than this subject, this magazine allocated space to the government, president, authorities, parliament, United National Movement and the local self-government.

The magazine Gza is distinguished with a negative tone towards the official subjects (President, government, authorities). Prevalence of negative tone towards them mostly is related to the section Provoker, which criticizes ongoing political events, politicians from both the authorities and opposition.

Journalists are main sources of articles on political topics. The facts are not double-checked and neither does it show any different positions or opinions to the readers.


Sarke (Mirror)

Like the magazines the Gza and the Tbiliselebi, there is a little number of articles on political topics in the magazine Sarke. However, this outlet presents the politicians in a different, non-political side and this way positively promotes their face. Correspondingly, some part of political subjects is mostly presented with a positive tone in Sarke.

Among the monitoring subjects, the Coalition Georgian Dream was the most actively covered subject even in the Sarke (29%). Unlike other outlets, more space (24%) was allocated to the Christian-Democratic Movement than to the President (15%) and the government (11%). In total, the outlet allocated 5,990 cm2 to the subjects that were interesting ones for the monitoring.

In most cases the political articles are not balanced and they have only one source, or the journalist is the only source in the article. The facts are seldom verified.


Annex - Diagrams

Diagram - Space 1Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the Resonance (total: 116, 427 cm2)

Diagram - Space 2Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the 24 Saati (24 Hours) (total: 24,599 cm2)


Diagram - Space 3Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the Alia (total: 129,070 cm2)

Diagram - Space 4Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the Kviris Palitra (total: 45,798 cm2)


Diagram - Space 5Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the Kviris Kronika (total: 84,208 cm2)

Diagram - Space 6Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper the Asaval-Dasavali (total: 114,199 cm2)


Diagram - Space 7Space allocated to the subjects in the magazine Tabula (total: 15,191 cm2)

Diagram - Space 8Space allocated to the subjects in the magazine Tbiliselebi (total: 2,070 cm2)


Diagram - Space 9Space allocated to the subjects in the magazine Gza (total: 3,022 cm2)

Diagram - Space 10Space allocated to the subjects in the magazine Sarke (total: 5,990 cm2)


Diagram - Tone 1Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper Resonance according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J1


Diagram - Tone 2Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper 24 Saati (24 Hours) according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J2


Diagram - Tone 3Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper Alia according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J3


Diagram - Tone 4Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper Kviris Palitra according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J4


Diagram - Tone 5Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper Kviris Kronika according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J5


Diagram - Tone 6Space allocated to the subjects in the newspaper Asaval-Dasavali according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J6


Diagram - Tone 7Space allocated to the subjects in the magazine Tabula according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J7


Diagram - Tone 8Space allocated to the subjects in the Magazine Tbiliselebi according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J8


Diagram - Tone 9Space allocated to the subjects in the Magazine Gza according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J9


Diagram - Tone 10Space allocated to the subjects in the Magazine Sarke according to the tone (%)

Diagram - Tone J10

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