Media Freedom 2015
Introduction
With the support of the National Endowment for Democracy, NED, the Media Development Foundation (MDF) publishes periodic reports on media freedom in Georgia.
Reports rest on the analysis of documents, official information requested from public entities and media reports.
This report consists of eight chapters covering the following topics: legislative environment; financial and business environment; media ownership issues; interference in editorial independence / programs taken off the air; legal practice regarding the cases of freedom of information and expression; media-related high-profile cases in 2015; monitoring of the implementation of Freedom of Expression Chapter of Action Plan of the Government of Georgia on the Protection of Human Rights; and Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster – a problem of appointment of candidates nominated by political opposition.
The following reports will be published on a quarterly basis and will enable society to analyze ongoing processes and trends in the Georgian media.
Those chapters of this report, which discuss the implementation of Human Rights Action Plan and the crisis that have emerged with regard to the manning of the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster, as well as availability of public information, include recommendations designed to help policy makers and media representatives improve the media environment.
