Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance (M-TAG) is a five-year, USAID-funded program that is strengthening journalism and improving access to independent, reliable, and balanced information in the Republic of Georgia.

The program works with Georgian journalists to improve the quality of reporting and professionalism, and with regional media outlets to improve their financial viability and sustainability.

• IREX and our partners have trained over 1,000 media professionals.
• With the program’s support, 14 media outlets have become sustainable, well-respected, and influential watchdogs that have more effectively communicated citizens’ concerns.
• After applying lessons learned on audience engagement, participating media outlets are seeing up to a 245% growth in their web traffic.
• More than 1,000 students have taken classes at the Multimedia Education Center supported by the program.

Innova Business Consulting
Transparency International–Georgia (October 2014–September 2017)
Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics

• Journalists accurately and ethically report on public-interest issues, including progress toward key government reforms.
• Regional media outlets improve their financial viability and transparency.
• Citizens in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have increased access to balanced and relevant information.

• World-class journalism education: M-TAG supports the Multimedia Education Center (MEC)—a cutting-edge facility where teachers train journalism students in a studio environment with tools that are comparable to those used in global newsrooms. IREX established the MEC in 2012, under the USAID-funded G-MEDIA program, and registered it as a local nonprofit in 2017.
• Strengthening media outlets: Staff work intensively with 17 regional media outlets to improve editorial content, production quality, and market viability through tailored media sustainability plans.
• Support for inclusion: M-TAG staff train partner media organizations in diversifying their reporting to include gender and minority issues. The program also supports media organizations that have audiences in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
• Transition to digital broadcasting: In the first year of the program, M-TAG supported regional television stations in understanding technical and business implications of the country’s transition from analogue to digital broadcasting.

E-mail: info-georgia@irex.org