E VA LUAT ION R E P OR T

Executive summary
Georgia
Improving the media market: Professionalizing local andcommunity media in Georgia and the South Caucasus

dw-akademie.com

Background
According to the 2020 Reporters Without
Borders press freedom rankings, Georgia
is ranked 60th out of 180 countries in theworld. In the South Caucasus, there arepersistent political, ethnic, and religious
conflicts, as well as pronounced urbanrural divides. Large segments of the population are underrepresented in the media
and subject to prejudice and stereotyping
in news coverage, in particular on social
media. Young people in particular are frequent victims of disinformation and often
unable to recognize propaganda and fakenews. In Georgia, the majority of media
outlets are owned by entrepreneurs who
determine the orientation of reporting inline with their economic and political interests. At the same time, the number andreach of small independent online media
outlets that work with linguistic minority
audiences is growing, as is the number ofinternet users, even in remote mountainous areas.
The subject of this evaluation is the threeyear BMZ-funded project in Georgia with

South Caucasus, commissioned by DW
Akademie (to run from 2020 to 2022). DW
Akademie focuses on inhabitants in rural
areas and strengthens small media outlets in providing relevant information to
its audiences, especially disadvantaged
and vulnerable population groups. Online
media outlets are supported in the areasof marketing and target-group oriented
storytelling. To increase media literacy
among young Georgians, the understanding of the role of the media in democraticsocieties is strengthened, and capacities
for critically assessing media reportingand the production of multi-media content
are improved. The project also follows a regional approach, as media managers fromthe South Caucasus are trained through ane-school format. Key cooperation partners
are the Network of Information Centers(NIC), the Media Development Foundation(MDF) and the Georgian Institute of Public
Affairs (GIPA). In addition, professionals
from small online media outlets—Livepress, Samkhretis Karibche and Qartli—
were supported directly by DW Akademie.

The evaluation was carried out by alead evaluator, based in Germany, and aco-evaluator, located in Georgia from November 2021 to March 2022. The developmental effectiveness of the project wasexamined according to the OECD/DAC
evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence,effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability). Analytical questions were selected based on the expressed interestsof the project team. The theory-based
evaluation followed a modular methodological approach, combining elementsof contribution analysis with explorative
approaches. Recommendations derived
from the findings of this evaluation werediscussed during the strategy development process for the new application tothe BMZ.

Project evaluation results
The OCED/DAC evaluation criteria havebeen assessed as follows:Relevance: The relevance of this DW Akademie project, which promotes freedomof expression and unhindered access to
information for vulnerable populationgroups and ethnic and linguistic minoritiesin Georgia and the South Caucasus, seems
undisputed. The resurgence of the militaryconfrontation over Nagorno-Karabakh(between the armed forces of Armenia
and those of Arzakh on one side, and thearmed forces of Azerbaijan on the other),and the unresolved territorial conflicts between Georgia and Russia over Abkhazia
and South Ossetia further underscore theongoing importance of these project interventions. Consequently, the evaluation
criterion has been assessed as “comprehensively fulfilled.”
Coherence: DW Akademie selected its partners according to their comparative advantages and implementation capacities. As DW
Akademie’s cooperation activities with its

partners were custom fit in accordancewith their potential, their existing e­ fforts,
in particular beneficiary outreach, networks and expertise, and to a certain
extent with their abilities to attract alternative funding, this criterion has beenassessed as “comprehensively fulfilled.”
Effectiveness: The project achieved awide range of results in its diverse project lines, literally against all odds, as theCOVID-19 pandemic not only required
flexibility in operational execution but
also impacted the project’s socio-economic environment. The lack of implementation of network events in theSouth Caucasus seemed to be due to an
insufficient participatory needs assessment among media outlets. In summary,the project’s effectiveness has been assessed as “overall fulfilled.”
Efficiency: Due to the pandemic-related
suspension of travel and face-to-faceevents, which are typically among thecostliest budget items, development

projects in general seemed to have savedon operational costs over the last twoyears. In these times, a more interestingquestion would be how the inevitablepandemic-related cost reductions, theresult of shifting project activities to thevirtual space, impacted on the achievement of the best possible results. For
instance, the restriction to an online format seemed to have played a part in thehigh dropout rates of GIPA’s e-school. In
addition, budget calculations that would
have barely covered travel costs for regional face-to-face formats should be reviewed. With partner cooperation rated
satisfactory or very satisfactory on all criteria analyzed, the operational efficiency
was assessed as high. However, concerns
were raised regarding the demanding
nature of financial administrative procedures. In summary, this evaluation criterion was assessed as “overall fulfilled.”
Impact: The NIC is making a broad impact by increasing the size of its audienceand by initiating positive changes for­ulnerable population groups throughv
its advocacy campaigns. Multiplier effects can also already be seen in the engagement of young people, who weretrained by the MDF in media information
literacy. It is more difficult, however,to improve the media viability of small
media outlets through the management training offered by the GIPA alone.
While economic sustainability is aided bymanagement capacity, the political andeconomic conditions (which were exacerbated further due to the pandemic)
have had a negative effect on the viability of small media outlets. This criterion
is nevertheless given the rating “overallfulfilled,” as the broad impact and horizontal scaling-up was exceptional, andthe initial effects observed in terms of
the strengthening the organizational capacities of small media outlets have thepotential to develop further under improved structural conditions.

Sustainability: The concept of media viability is defined as the ability of the media to produce high quality journalism
in a sustainable way. The anchoring ofsustainability components runs like a red
thread through the entire project plan.
The high levels of commitment and ownership among all partners, who seem tohave their hearts set on the project, aresupporting factors for the sustainabilityof the intervention. The economic sustainability and independence of both
NIC, the umbrella body, and independent small online media outlets depends,
however, not only on the quality of thejournalism produced and the management capacities of these organization,
but also on the improvement of the socio-economic and political context inwhich they operate. In summary, thisevaluation criterion has been assessed
as “partially fulfilled.”

DW Akademie

is Deutsche Welle’s center forinternational media development,journalism training and knowledgetransfer. Our projects strengthen thehuman right to freedom of expression
and unhindered access to information.
DW Akademie empowers people
worldwide to make independent
decisions based on reliable facts andconstructive dialogue. DW Akademie isa strategic partner of the German
Federal Ministry for Economic
Coopera­tion and Development. We
also receive funding from the Federal
Foreign Office and the European Union
and are active in approximately 60
developing countries and emerging
economies.

CONTAC TDr. Laura Moore
Head Research and Evaluation
laura.moore@dw.com
Berlin, Germany
DWAkademie@dw_akademie
DWAkademie
dw.com/newsletter-registration
dw.com/mediadev

The objective of the external evaluation is to provide a constructive assessment of the project results. It does not necessarily align with theperspective and planning of DW Akademie. Nevertheless, all findings were discussed in order to allow lessons learned to be incorporated into
the development of future strategies.