Internews in launching the “Support for Truthful Reporting for Informed Neighbors in Georgia” (STRING) project in Georgia, in partnership with Internews Georgia and the Media Development Foundation (MDF). The project aims to provide minority audiences in Georgia with quality information about regional developments, including peace and security issues, and help them to avoid disinformation and propaganda.

Through a competitive process, the project will support nine sub-grants to minority language media organizations based in the regions that are populated by ethnic minorities. Local partnership may be television, radio, print and web-only media companies. Selected media outlets will user funding to research, design, and produce 12 in-depth stories each (online and broadcast talk-shows, video, audio, print, photo, multimedia, interactive web formats). The duration of the sub-grant is eight months. In addition to funds for the stories, the partners will receive editorial support and trainings in conflict reporting and information verification.

The project will partner with Media Development Foundation (MDF) to monitor coverage of regional developments, including peace and security issues, in media and help identify and determine the origins and the path of disinformation and instances of unbalanced, unsubstantiated reporting.

Internews will also offer three grants to Georgian-language media outlets to produce collaborative reporting with minority-language media. These stories will cover post-conflict issues and bring narratives from minority communities to the mainstream media discourses.

For more information, please contact Internews’ Country Representative in Georgia, Maia Mikashavidze at [email protected].