Blogs

Statistics for February 2010

We had 5,082 visits from 3,318 visitors in February.

The biggest stories were:

• Facts, fantasy and Daniel Hannan's blog posts
• Tea Tutberidze's swear word assault on the Patriarch
• Protest against Real TV
• Winning back South Ossetia starts here
• Who is Tamar Darsavelidze?

Social media for social change conference in Tbilisi

In a media environment where the authorities control the national news through their grip on medium that matters - television - it is not just reporting of events in Georgia that are distorted to suit the needs of the Saakashvili regime.

For instance, there is a virtual news blackout on events in Armenia and Azerbaijan - presumably because the government does not want the Georgian media upsetting their friendly governments by reporting that they are even more repressive regimes than that in Georgia.

But of course it is the reporting of internal Georgian affairs - whether over Abkhazia or South Ossetia or over corruption, justice or the opposition - that the problem is most acute.

Alternative electronic media are still relatively new in Georgia: imagine western European countries 10 - 15 years ago and you have close to the same level of penetration: but the potential is huge, especially as powerful mobile phones spread. Right now though Tbilisi (blue in the pie chart shown) dominates all, though mobile coverage (green) is growing.

So, events such as the "Social Media for Social Change" conference in Tbilisi on 9 - 10 April can make a huge impact by drawing together Georgia's social media pioneers and providing energy and inspiration.

Let's hope so.

Mark Monem: the search continues

So far we have to admit that we have not uncovered any new leads in the search for "Mark Monem" - the man introduced at a February 2009 press conference as a representative of the Ras Al-Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA), supposedly the new owners of the Imedi television station.

Who is Mark Monem? | Promote Your Page Too

Around a fortnight ago RAKIA denied that they had any stake in Imedi or indeed that they ever had. Yet, as has been documented by Cory Welt, everyone from Rustavi 2 to the office of Mikheil Saakashvili had told us otherwise - so somebody is not telling the truth.

Identifying "Mark Monem" is one way to get to the bottom of this: if he is a RAKIA employee or an employee of any of its subsidaries (RAKIA's property development arm Rakeen is most active in Georgia), then plainly RAKIA's denial - issued a year late - holds no water.

If he's someone else entirely then it is the Georgian authorities that are principally exposed as not telling the truth here (albeit with RAKIA's compliance for the last year).

We do not have the resources to mount a full scale investigation, but we do think we can use the internet to find out the truth. If we ask enough people if they recognise "Mark Monem" then sooner or later we find someone who does.

As the graphic above shows we have now created a Facebook group - please join it whether you know Mark Monem or not, the more people join the wider the group will spead.

And, if you want to do more please read this page.

Who is Tamar Darsavelidze?

On the Facebook group "Protest at Real TV" the screenshot we used to illustrate "the ugly face of government smears" (see picture) has caused some commentary as the woman pictured, named as Tamar Darsavelidze, is captioned as a "journalist".

In fact, as she goes on to "interview" a dummy with a picture of Irakli Alasania stuck on its head, the claim is pretty dubious.

But who is she? One of the mysteries of Real TV is that it has appeared out of nowhere and is staffed by people with no apparent track record.

Make your suggestions in the comments...

Protest against "Real TV"

Georgians are joining a Facebook group to make it clear they oppose the Vano Merabishvili sponsored sewer that is "Real TV" - you can show your solidarity and stand up for decent journalism by joining too.

http://www.facebook.com/n/?group.php&gid=329777842789&mid=1e025e3G5af31482489dG5f5cc4G6