Pressure by Georgian Government motivates Journalist to be Pro active with new media

The attempts of pressure by the Georgia government only motivate journalist to be successful in their responsibility to their audiences to give accurate information regarding current issues.
A group of six radio and newspaper journalists from the Georgia visited the University of Georgia Monday to explain the state of news and media in their environment and to learn from American media culture.
The trip to the University of Georgia was funded by the open world program, a program in collaboration with the U.S. congress.
There are many government restrictions on the media outlets, but journalist agree that Journalism is progressing and gaining more freedom.
“The Georgian government often tries to “pressure” or threaten radio stations and websites that tell Georgian citizens information that they otherwise wouldn’t know” said Khatuna Gogashvili.
“The effect of this is bad for local radio stations as the government blocks information from the media and access to the information becomes more limited. Because of this, local outlets are the last to get information and often get the news when the story has lost its effect.”
“Media is a very competitive field” said Khatuna Barbakadze. “It is risky and often requires a strong competitive nature to be successful.”
In spite of the government turmoil, there has been an upside to being in the field of media. Digital media has had a massive affect on communication in the nation of Georgia.
Journalist and television personnel have started to use Facebook to communicate with each other as well as their audience.
“In the month of February Georgia had the largest amount of new Facebook Users” said Irina Arabidze.
“This new media has allowed information to be spread independently and not be monitored by government” stated Khatuna Barbakadze. Because of the digital media the Georgian journalist have a newfound hope of one day being the free speaking nation it envisions.
The experience and information gained from visiting the United States hopes to give the journalist more motivation to make Georgia a nation with limitless possibilities and a bigger variety of trustworthy outlets to news and media.