Media Centre Kakheti

2023

A very strong pro-European orientation has been evident in Georgian society in recent years. However, especially in more remote areas, smaller villages and communities, there are fluctuations in this direction, often influenced by misinformation and fake news spread on social media. 

Therefore, a group of journalists from the Kakheti Media Centre was campaigning to raise awareness of the importance of integration into the European Union in the Kakheti region of Georgia, especially among young people and members of ethnic minorities. Kakheti, one of Georgia's largest regions, lies in the far east of the country, bordering Azerbaijan and Russia. It is home to large ethnic groups that are most vulnerable to the influence of propaganda due to their specific social conditions (labour migration, communication within groups in their own language). According to the survey, EU support is lowest in settlements with a large ethnic minority presence. It should be noted that misinformation about the European Union and European integration has been circulating on social media and in specific media for years. As recent processes in the country have shown, political forces are using this for their own purposes.

The initiative shows the importance and benefits of European integration through real examples of specific local residents and their families. In particular, it focuses on the benefits that European integration contributes in the areas of education, healthcare and employment. 

They used the established media outlet KNEWS.GE to publish 8 stories about the positive impact of European integration, for example here and here (in Geogrian only). They managed to reach almost 300,000 mainly younger people in the Kakheti region. 

In collaboration with partner organisation Abkhazintercont and a local facilitator, NESEHNUTI organised a campaign planning and campaign plan update where participants had the opportunity to plan together with two other supported initiatives from Akhaltsikhe and Marneuli. NESEHNUTI also provided financial support for the implementation of the campaign and we were in regular contact with the initiative throughout the campaign.