Introduction

"We are very distanced from the events in Abkhazia; my program, and I myself, very rarely cover what is happening there, but this is one of those cases... In principle, everything concerns us, of course, but this is one of those instances that concerns us very much and in which we see our future..." — These are the opening words of Eka Kvesitadze, the host of the program Different Accents on Mtavari TV, as she introduced her broadcast about the ongoing protests in Abkhazia on November 12, 2024.

The journalist’s remarks reflect the general trend in Georgian mainstream media regarding coverage of topics related to the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Leading Georgian television channels, for various reasons — including limited human and financial resources, political and editorial conjunctures, and dominant political narratives surrounding the conflicts — devote strikingly little time and energy to reporting on internal developments within the conflict regions. Although in public discourse the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the region of South Ossetia are designated as inseparable parts of the Georgian state, the editorial policies and practices of television media in covering stories related to these two regions stand in essential contradiction to this discourse. This may be explained by the dominance of a non-recognition framework, which views the conflicts, their histories, and peace policies primarily through a geopolitical lens. This approach assigns little significance to the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian dimensions of the conflicts and effectively deprives local political elites and communities of political agency.

As a result, the Georgian television audience lacks the opportunity to form an in-depth understanding of what is happening in Abkhazia and South Ossetia — of the major developments in the political, social, and cultural life there, and of the daily realities, concerns, fears, and interests of the people living in these regions.

This concerning trend is also recognized by media professionals themselves. As a study conducted by Lasha Zarginava (2022) showed, only about 6% of media workers believe that Georgian media adequately covers topics related to the country’s Occupied Territories. Around 60% consider that these topics are inadequately covered in the media. Moreover, nearly 30% of respondents "could not recall when a topic related to the occupied territories was last covered by their media outlet" (Zarginava, 2022, p. 8).

This trend contributes to the further deepening of alienation and hostile attitudes between the people living in Georgia-controlled territories and those residing in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. Any discussion about the role of the media in overcoming such alienation must first begin with an empirical description of the existing practices and trends.

Accordingly, the objective of the present study was to conduct a qualitative examination of the coverage of stories related to Abkhazia and the South Ossetia region in Georgian television media. Thus, the media monitoring aimed to analyze the main trends in editorial policies regarding interest in and coverage of topics related to the conflict regions within Georgian television media.

The next chapter of the report describes the theoretical framework of the study, which is based on the concept of peace journalism and the principles of conflict-sensitive reporting.

This theoretical framework takes as its starting point the media’s crucial role in informing society and transforming perceptions, particularly concerning highly sensitive issues. Topics related to Abkhazia and the South Ossetia region constitute precisely such sensitive issues within Georgian society.

Folowing the review of the theoretical framework, the report outlines the research methodology, including the criteria for selecting media outlets and the approach used during monitoring for identifying relevant media materials and conducting content analysis.

This section also discusses the study’s limitations, which were influenced by both objective and subjective factors. Examples of such factors include the researcher's identity, the time period selected for conducting the study, the specifics of journalism as a professional practice and field, and technical issues such as inconsistencies in the archiving of television broadcasts.

The following two chapters present the main findings of the study and review the trends in media coverage of topics related to Abkhazia and the South Ossetia region, illustrating them with relevant examples. The concluding section of the study once again summarizes the main findings, which then serve as the basis for the recommendations developed for media outlets.

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