DW Akademie in Georgia

In Georgia, disinformation campaigns, political influence and weak parameters severely restrict people’s access to reliable, independent information. The country is caught between European Union (EU) negotiations and Russia’s influence, including in Georgia’s parliamentary elections in October 2024.

Minority groups are especially vulnerable to disinformation campaigns, and particularly local independent media that report in minority languages lack qualified journalists. The stop to USAID funding is adding to the media outlets’ financial strain.

Few media can offer relevant content and so people are increasingly turning to social media for information, where particularly young people are susceptible to unfiltered propaganda and hate speech. 

In November 2024, the government announced it would postpone EU negotiations until 2028, further polarizing Georgian society and leading to daily demonstrations. As of June 2025, journalists will come under increasing government scrutiny due to the Foreign Agents Registration Act, now requiring reporters and not just media organizations to register as “foreign agents” if more than 20% of their income comes from abroad. The law has shattered people’s trust in the media and could lead to restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of expression. 

In response, DW Akademie’s projects support independent and quality reporting to promote a diverse media landscape and informed public opinion. 

Our activities

With a project funded by the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), DW Akademie is working with approximately 20 journalists from local media organizations to improve services for regional and linguistic minorities. 

Download our evaluation reports for Georgia below.

The project partner Georgian Insitute of Public Affairs (GIPA) helps graduates of journalism and media management programs to get a start in their career, this way boosting the next generation of media professionals. 

Another project is fighting propaganda and disinformation by developing centers of excellence for fact-checking and verification. The project partner Media Development Foundation (MDF) is training more than 90 young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine to uncover and report on propaganda and disinformation, and holds an annual international fact-checking conference to promote networking and a professional exchange between Georgian media professionals and international experts. 

A fourth project, financed by the EU, focuses on concerns that Georgia’s media landscape will be further polarized, posing a threat to the country’s state of democracy. 

Funding: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), European Union

Program Director: Katrin Wehry

Locations: Tbilisi and rural provinces throughout​​ Georgia

Local partners: Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), Media Development Foundation , Human Rights Center

Focus: Professionalization, media and journalism education, civic participation, local media, community media, media and information literacy (MIL), developing networks