Internews – Georgia
Media Monitoring of Radios during Elections
September 18 – October 15, 2012
During the period of September 18 – October 15, 2012, Internews Georgia
monitored the evening news releases of 12 radio stations. Following key findings
were revealed by the monitoring:
 Compared to the previous monitoring periods, the highest frequency rate
of coverage was reported for the subjects;
 Active coverage by the radios usually depends on the ongoing processes
in the country. High rate of coverage during this period was caused by the
events developed in connection to the prisons and also by the elections as
well;
 There was significantly more live coverage of the subjects during the
period of September 18 – October 2. However, the share of indirect
coverage still prevails in the radios.
 At some radios: Radio 1, Fortuna, Hot Chocolate, Voice of Abkhazia, Radio
Imedi – the respondents’ voice is less heard and the journalists are limited
to the paraphrasing or reading of quotes;
 There is a continuous trend, according to which the journalists themselves
rarely make evaluations and are limited to stating facts in most cases.
There was no case of violation of journalistic ethics or biased coverage
during this period; this trend is equally applicable to all the twelve radios;
 In regards to the coverage tone, the picture is much more diverse
compared to the previous monitoring periods. This was caused by the
increasing evaluations made in negative and positive tones, as elections
got closer, and also because of the prison events. All of this was
broadcasted by the journalists in an unchanged way, as a quote, and in
most cases – in a paraphrased form;
 The journalists mostly used the neutral tone; however, during the
monitoring period there were also some cases, when the journalists
covered the subjects with a negative and positive tone;
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 In most cases, the negative tone is used in regards to a particular subject,
when quotes are used, or when one subject is talking about the other one;
 Compared to the neutral tone, positive tone is used a little and in most
cases we observe it if a subject evaluates political activities and obtained
results by his or any other political group;
 Most frequently, the positive tone is used when covering the Coalition
Georgian Dream, the United National Movement, the President, the Government
and the Christian-Democratic Party;
 Number of covered subjects decreased after the elections, and this is
explained by shifting the full attention of the media to the Coalition
Georgian Dream, the United National Movement and government
institutions;
 Regional radios (Atinati, Old City, Hereti) are distinguished with diversity
of themes and they pay a big attention to the wide-scale events (especially
to the issues of elections), also to the local social problems. Before and
during the elections, these radios had many live broadcasts; they were
actively preparing the stories and broadcasting voice comments. Due to
the current significance of the events (elections), duration of news release
was longer;
 In regards to the allocated time, the Coalition Georgian Dream ranks first in
all the radios. The following subjects are: the government, the United
National Movement and the President;
Methodology and Analysis
The monitoring consists of quantitative and qualitative stages of the research.
During the quantitative research the following indicators are observed: time
allocated to the subjects, direct and indirect speech and the tone of coverage. At
the stage of qualitative research a monitor is observing the following qualitative
indicators: balance, impartiality, accuracy, facts-based coverage, timely coverage
of facts, ignorance of the news.
At the stage of quantitative research, the time is calculated (in seconds), when the
subject is talked about by the anchor of the news release, radio reporter of the
news item or any respondent presented in that news item.
The coverage tone is assigned to the subject when s/he is talked about indirectly
and also when s/he is talking about himself/herself, about other subjects or
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general issues. There are three categories for evaluating the tone: positive,
neutral and negative. Always, while counting the time allocated to a subject,
simultaneously, the tone is also evaluated, i.e. the amount of time is counted, for
how many seconds/minutes this or that subject was talked about with a specific
tone. While evaluating the tone, emphasis is laid not only on the contents of the
news item, but also on the context as well. Such evaluation aims at determining
whether we create positive, neutral or negative impressions for the audience in
regards to the subject. Besides, it should be noted that the tone is not assigned to
the whole news item. The monitors divide the news items according to the
subjects mentioned therein and then input each of them into the database
according to the coverage tone, air time allocated to them (in seconds), source of
information and topic. This is because sometimes one news item contains various
statements of different tones in regards to one or more subjects.
Quantitative data are provided in diagrams, which are attached to the report.
Time allocated to the subjects is given in percentage in the diagrams. 100 per cent
equals the time allocated to all the subjects on each channel during the particular
monitoring period, which is indicated in the title of each diagram.
Direct and indirect speech differentiates whether the subject is talking himself in
the news item or if s/he is being spoken about. Direct and indirect speech is
given in the diagrams in percentages. 100 per cent equals the time allocated to
every subject on that channel, which is indicated in the diagrams along the
subjects (format- minutes : seconds).
The diagrams also show three tone categories: positive (green), neutral (yellow)
and negative (red). Tone-based evaluation of the time allocated to subjects is
given in two ways: tone-based evaluation of the total time allocated to the
subjects in a given channel, and the tone of coverage/mentioning of subjects by
the journalists. The coverage tone is given in percentage. In the first case 100 per
cent equals to the total time of talking about the subject on a particular channel
and then the time of talking about the subject by a journalist separately.
Qualitatively, the monitor observes whether the fact/issue covered in the news
items is provided in a balanced way, i.e. whether the audience has an
opportunity to listen/watch this issue from different angles, and to evaluate this
event from his point of view. In this case the attention is paid to the sources of
information and the respondents of various viewpoints shown in the news item.
Besides, the impartiality is also monitored, for which the emphasis is laid on
whether the any subject/s is distinguished and enjoys longer coverage and
mostly positive or negative tone. Moreover, for evaluating accuracy, the monitor
observes how relevant the journalist’s opinion and the materials used in the
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news item are (respondents’ comments), if there are mistakes in the names,
figures, respondents’ identities. If the news release of any channel does not cover
any important fact happening in the country, then this is also reflected in the
monitoring.
Based on these components, we are presenting the results of monitoring of news
releases per radio stations for the period of September 18 – October 15.
It should be pointed out that the trends and opinions are similar in case of all the
monitored radios. As for the key trends, we should mention that the radios cover
the events related to the monitoring subjects accurately and in a quite balanced
way as well.
Radio Fortuna
Timing of main news releases is not more than 5 minutes on the Radio Fortuna,
and the journalists are mostly limited to the stating of facts. In fact, the
respondents do not speak live, and usually the host provides short quotes from
statements (the exceptions are the live broadcasts when the correspondents go
live from the epicenter of events).
During the monitoring period, the negative coverage of authorities and that of
the government increased in the radio, which was caused by the statements
made in connection to the coverage of violations revealed in the state
penitentiary system during September 18-25.
In total, about three hours were allocated to the coverage of the monitoring
subjects on the radio. Out of them, the most time was dedicated to the Coalition
Georgian Dream (30%), then – to the government (21%) and the United National
Movement (12%). It should be pointed out that the top three subjects are the
similar in almost all the radios.
Radio Hot Chocolate
Compared to other radios, the Hot Chocolate allocates the least time to the
coverage of monitoring subjects (in total 56 minutes). This trend is most eyecatching during all the monitoring periods. According to the allocated time, the
leaders are: the Coalition Georgian Dream, the United National Movement and
the government. The speech is mostly indirect, and the tone is neutral.
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Radio Liberty
Due to the duration of the program, the radio Liberty again allocates much time
to the coverage of political subjects. At the last stage of the monitoring, the radio
allocated almost 14 hours to their coverage. Out of them, the highest rate was
observed for the Coalition Georgian Dream (27%), the government (19%), the
United National Movement (11%), the Central Election Commission (6%) and the
local government (6%).
In the news reports, the journalists exhaustively review the significant events
happening throughout the country. Besides, other than the events going on in the
capital city, the Radio Liberty actively covered the situations in the regions.
Journalist’s tone was mostly neutral when covering the news, except the cases
when the correspondents were paraphrasing the opinions of others.
It should be mentioned that out of the political parties the Radio Liberty mostly
covers the Coalition Georgian Dream and the United National Movement. As a
whole, the cumulative time allocated to other parties, is only 5% of the total time
allocated to the subjects.
Radio Imedi
During the monitoring period, Radio Imedi allocated the most time to the
coverage of activities of the Coalition Georgian Dream (22%), the government
(19%) and the United National Movement (18%). Similar to previous periods, the
share of indirect coverage prevails in the evening news releases; however, the
cases of direct coverage was also observed: in regards to the Coalition Georgian
Dream, the government and the United National Movement. The United
National Movement has the most equal indicator of direct/indirect coverage:
direct – 31%, indirect – 69%. As for the coverage tone, as it is the case for 11
radios, the neutral tone prevails here too. However, there were cases of negative
coverage as well in respect to the Coalition Georgian Dream, the government
and the authorities. Besides, two subjects have quite a big indicator of positive
coverage: the United National Movement and the government.
Radio Utsnobi
The Radio Utsnobi most frequently covered the Coalition Georgian Dream, the
United National Movement and the government during the monitoring period.
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We observe the instances of both direct and indirect coverage on Utsnobi, though
the indirect coverage is most frequently used. The notorious facts of prisoner
torture and the related protest rallies were most actively covered during the
reporting period. In this case the authorities and the Ministry of Corrections were
the main objects of criticism. Correspondingly, out of the dedicated time, the
authorities had 80%, and the government had 44% of negative coverage.
No facts of journalist’s bias or subjective evaluation were observed during the
monitoring period.
Radio Hereti
Alongside the election campaigns, the Radio Hereti paid much attention to the
local news during the monitoring period, also to the processes developed in the
region and local municipalities. The radio is distinguished with its numerous
reports, live broadcasts and voice comments.
The most time was dedicated to the Coalition Georgian Dream out of the
monitoring subjects, and it got almost half of the total time (43%). Only 16% of
time was dedicated to the next subject – the United National Movement.
The radio has high rate of direct coverage. Majority of the subjects was equally
covered with direct and indirect speech. The coverage tone is neutral in most
cases, but there were also some cases of negative and positive coverage. For
example, the authorities were covered with negative tone almost always (94%).
Radio Palitra
During September 18 – October 15, Palitra allocated the most time to the
coverage of monitoring subjects – almost 16 hours. In regards to the allocated
time, the Coalition Georgian Dream is leading (31%). The government and the
United National Movement rank second and third (16-16%). 3% of total time was
allocated to the Christian-Democratic Movement, and in total, less than 2% was
allocated to other political parties.
The highest indicator of positive and negative tone was caused by the statement
expressed while covering the ongoing events in the country, and there was no
case of bias by the journalist.
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In regards to the direct and indirect speech, there is a quite diverse picture at the
Radio Palitra. Despite the indirect speech is still used most frequently, quite a big
share of direct speech is attributed to the political subjects.
Radio Green Wave
While covering the political subjects during the reporting period, the Radio
Green Wave allocated most time to the activities of the Coalition Georgian
Dream (25%), the United National Movement (17%), the government (14%) and
Christian-Democratic Movement (9%).
As for the direct and indirect coverage, here the rate of indirect coverage is
prevailing; however, it is noteworthy that at some time almost all the political
subjects had an opportunity of direct speech.
The journalist’s tone was mostly neutral in regards to the subjects, and coverage
with negative and positive tones were mostly reported during the speech of the
monitoring subjects, or while paraphrasing it by the journalist. The biggest share
of negative tone was observed while covering the government and the
authorities. As for the positive tone, the highest indicator was reported for the
United National Movement, the government, the Christian-Democratic
Movement and the Coalition Georgian Dream.
Radio Atinati
Like other regional radio stations, the Radio Atinati also pays much attention to
the events taking place in the region. In parallel to the election process, the Radio
Atinati intensively covered the regional activities and election campaigns of
political parties. During the reporting period, the most time was allocated to the
Coalition Georgian Dream (30%), the United National Movement (16%) and the
government (10%).
The share of direct speech was quite big. As for the coverage tone, like the
previous periods, it was mostly neutral.
Radio 1
News releases of the Radio 1 are mostly descriptive, and the coverage mostly
takes place in a format of ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’. The radio manages to
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distribute the time quite equally while covering the activities of various parties.
This is the only radio where the political parties occupy the first six places in
regards to the allocated time: the Coalition Georgian Dream (21%), the United
National Movement (17%), the Christian-Democratic Movement (11%), the New
Rights (8%), the Labor Party (7%), and the Free Georgia (5%).
The share of direct coverage is very low at this radio. The voice of respondents is
heard rarely, we do not encounter news reports and live broadcasts. The only
exception is the significant events taking place in the country, when we can listen
to live broadcasts and voice comments on the radio.
As for the tone-based evaluation of the time allocated to the subjects, we should
point out that the subjects are most often covered with neutral tone. As for the
journalist’s tone, in most cases it is neutral too.
Radio Old City
In total, 2 hours and 33 minutes were dedicated to the monitoring subjects in
evening news releases on the Radio Old City. The used tone was mostly neutral.
The biggest time was allocated to the Coalition Georgian Dream (24%) and the
tone was neutral in most cases. The United National Movement ranks second
(12%). It should be pointed out that with the share of direct speech and diversity
of topics, the Radio Old City stands out among other regional radios.
Radio Voice of Abkhazia
From the viewpoint of the allocated time, the Coalition Georgian Dream is a
leader in the air of the Voice of Abkhazia (34%), and the United National
Movement ranks second with its 19%. In regards to the direct and indirect
speech, the indirect speech prevailed in the evening releases of the Voice of
Abkhazia. However, the direct speech was used at some extents in case of all the
top ten subjects. The coverage tone is mostly neutral. We observe very little
number of news reports, live broadcasts and voice comments of the respondents
during the evening news releases, and the journalists are only limited to the
reading of periphrases and quotes.
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Annex
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