Anti-Western Propaganda: Media Development Foundation (MDF) 2017

A recent study conducted by the Media Development Foundation (MDF) analysed the anti-Western messages and fake news spread in the Georgian media throughout 2017. The research aims to look at different media outlets, including mainstream and print media to monitor the pattern of dissemination of fake news and anti-Western perspective throughout different Georgian media platforms.

The study looks at various statements made in Georgian broadcast and print media that establish the West, particularly the USA, as an enemy state. For example, Valeri Kvaratskhelia, a presenter for TV Obieqtivi said during one of the shows: “The USA has recently created a terrorist state, the so-called Islamic State, and used it for strengthening its hegemony in the Middle East. It was primarily Russia that went against it because Russia believed that the existence of a terrorist state was unacceptable.”

The key findings of the study suggest that anti-Western messages in the Georgian media have significantly increased in 2017 as compared to 2016 and 2015. The study also explores the phenomenon of fake news in the Georgian media. Upon fact-checking and verification of 144 fake news items it was found that a vast range of fake photos and videos by anti-Western and pro-Kremlin media outlets were disseminated to serve their agendas. The study also looks at social media and how it is often used as a tool to disseminate fake news and fabricate stories and cultivate conspiracies.

AntiWest-2017-ENG.pdf