Launched in August 2022, the five-year, $10 million USAID Media Program in Georgia aims to strengthen the media sector to deliver relevant, fact-based independent information to help people build a more just, prosperous, and democratic society.

In an increasingly polarized media landscape, eroding public trust in media, and pressure on media freedoms, IREX is working to improve journalism standards and ethics, increase access to information, and to defend critical press freedoms.

• Preserve and strengthen an enabling environment that supports press freedom and access to information
• Increase business innovation and viability of media outlets 
• Increase the availability of civically relevant, fact-based, independent sources of information

• Media Advocacy - Strategic advocacy initiatives in collaboration with media and CSOs responding to laws and policies related to journalists’ safety, media ownership, and access to information, protecting the enabling environment for independent media and freedom of expression.
• Technology and Data - Technology solutions will help media reach new audiences, improve user experiences, and allow audience feedback. Cutting-edge research into all forms of media consumption will help content producers better understand current behaviors and attitudes regarding media.
• Impactful Reporting - Support for media outlets along with other content producers such as influencers to produce fact-based reporting on social issues through traditional and non-traditional media, combined with increased capacity for investigative journalism, leads to informed citizenship, government accountability, and enhanced civic engagement.
• Legal Assistance - Legal support to journalists enables media workers to understand the fast-changing legal environment, provide support around freedom of access to information, pursue redress for violent attacks on journalists, and take on strategic cases that improve the enabling environment.
• Business Innovation - Empowering media outlets to develop and execute digitalization strategies to reach audiences beyond their established channels and experiment with new business strategies will help achieve long-term financial viability.
• Community Engagement - Reporting on public interest topics, increased dialogue between the media and other stakeholders, and engagement with youth influencers addresses the trust gap between the public and the media.

The Media Program is funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and works with several key local and international organizations, including the Georgian Charter for Journalistic Ethics, the Open Society Georgia Foundation and the Media Advocacy Coalition, as well as dozens of independent media organizations.

Email: contact.mp.ge@irex.org