June 18^th marked the start of the another round of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) media monitoring campaign which aims to support free, diverse, and professional media during the presidential elections in October. The Civic Development Institute (CDI) will monitor online and print media, Internews-Georgia will monitor radio broadcasts, and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics will monitor TV news. The campaign will monitor thirty-seven TV, radio, print and online national media outlets throughout the election. An initial report will be released in October prior to the election, and a final report will be filed after the election. The reports aim to examine major trends in election coverage. The program will monitor trends such as tone of coverage and time given to a particular subject. It will also look for impartiality, accuracy, and will examine several criteria for evaluating journalists.

The first media monitoring round occurred in 2010, and since then, the EU and UNDP have contributed to media research during six major elections in Georgia. Its mission is to increase journalistic standards, promote media diversity, and increase transparency in civil society.