On September 20, Batumi hosted the Media Conference 2014.
Media experts, representatives of media organizations, non-governmental organizations and international donor organizations discussed current situation and prospects of Media in Georgia.
Presentations and discussions were held on challenges faced by regional media, as well as on issues relating the transition to digital broadcasting, new media development trends and development of student media.
Panel discussion was followed by a presentation of the recent publications of the Foundation.
Media Conference is being held for the third time with the support of Open Society Georgia Foundation. Media Conference 2014 was the first event scheduled within the campaign of the 20th anniversary of the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
The Executive Director of the Foundation, Keti Khutsishvili, talked about the role of foundation in the media development process: “This year our foundation marks its 20th anniversary and it is remarkable that the Media Conference is the first event held within the anniversary campaign. Freedom and independence of media has been our leading priority since the establishment of the Foundation. We made a summary of all media projects funded by the Open Society Georgia Foundation since its establishment and found out that we have provided support to television, radio, magazines and newspapers, as well as to online media in almost every region of Georgia. Nearly 50 media outlets are our beneficiaries. 6 351 500 USD is spent, while more than 300 projects are funded.” 
In recent years significant efforts, coordinated towards the improvement of media environment in the country, have been made by the Coalition for Media Advocacy, established in 2011 with the support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation. Coalition for Media Advocacy contributed to the improvement of legislation on transparent and independent media, as well as to the enforcement of the must-carry and must-offer principles. Coalition is actively involved in the process of transition to digital broadcasting as well. Rights of a number of journalists have been protected by the Coalition for Media Advocacy.
Detailed information on the participants and topics can be found on the Media Conference website.
Information graphic below has been created with the support of OSGF and reflects 20-year history of media development.
