The Media Development Foundation (MDF) conducts monitoring of budget amounts spent on the release of information. The monitoring is aimed at studying how and why the budgetary funds are allocated to separate media outlets.

On the first stage of the research, the MDF applied to 19 ministries and the State Chancellery of Georgia asking for the information on the amounts these state entities transferred to media outlets for the latter to release information and render advertising and other services, and the nature of services delivered by media outletsin 2013-2014.

Of these 20 public institutions only one – the Ministry of Internal Affairs – failed to supply the requested information within the terms established by the law. An administrative complaint was filed against this violation.

This preliminary report reflects amounts allocated from budgets of the ministries to news agencies for the preparation and release of information as well as the delivery of other similar services and does not reflect similar services delivered to legal entities in public lawsubordinated to these ministries.

We will analyze the distribution of advertising among other types of media outlets, including instances of surreptitious advertising and programs sponsored by state entities, in the next research.

Link: Media Receiving Funding from the State Budget Unequal Competition among News Agencies

   Media Receiving Funding from the State Budget Unequal Competition among News Agencies by Media Development Foundation on Scribd