On December 27, 2021, Europe Foundation announced the winners of the Georgia Shining Light Awards, established to honor and promote the outstanding achievements of Georgia’s investigative journalists who often work in hostile environments to uncover challenging issues.
The prize for the most courageous reporting, performed in the face of threats and powerful opposition, goes to Maka Chikhladze’s report on the secret recordings of Bera Ivanishvili, Irakli Gharibashvili and Anzor Chubinidze. These secret recordings expose the terror inflicted on those Georgian citizens – including minors – who posted negative comments about Bera Ivanishvili on social media by the oligarch’s son, the Prime Minister and the Head of State Security Service. After the report was aired, the media disseminated information about alleged plans for the liquidation of the author of the report and the program host, and an investigation was launched. Despite these threats, the journalists maintained their professional integrity and fully protected their confidential sources.
“Chikhladze’s work, and her perseverance in the face of danger, is a strong example of the way many Georgian journalists place public service over personal safety,” Horvit said.
The prize for the best investigation goes to Tamar Gelashvili’s story"The Lost Country”.This piece uncovered a systemic failure on the part of the Government of Georgia, which spent more than a billion GEL on water infrastructure over the last 10 years, while thousands of families from more than 3,500 villages continue to experience water shortages and have neither irrigation nor drinking water. Studio Monitor documented how the government wasted public money and failed to address the problem at hand while village residents struggle on a daily basis to obtain water.
“Gelashvili’s reporting demonstrates the power of investigative journalism,” said contest judge Mark Horvit, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. “It powerfully illustrates inequity and holds those in power accountable.”
Europe Foundation would like to make a special acknowledgement of Studio Monitor’s many years of investigative reporting. The journalists at Studio Monitor have shown substantial commitment in time and resources over many years and have uncovered numerous issues that have gravely affected the common good.
“The contest entries submitted by Studio Monitor journalists – Marika Dudunia, Nino Tsverava, Nino Ramishvili, Nino Shubitidze and Zura Modebadze – are all journalistic investigations of the highest quality, which are often extremely difficult to make, and which have uncovered a variety of questionable activities including: a secret scheme for electricity import; a network of fraudulent cyber-call centers in Ukraine, Albania and Georgia; suspicious schemes by Ivanishvili's nephew to purchase land for construction purposes in Tbilisi and its surroundings; a story about corrupt doctors and the reasons behind price increases and a lack of quality control in the Georgian pharmaceutical market, and; business and political elites turning Tbilisi’s recreational zones into construction sites,” – said Ketevan Vashakidze, jury member and President of Europe Foundation.
Special recognition goes to Gori Community Radio Mosaic and its journalists – Gvantsa Doluashvili, Nino Chibchiuri, Giorgi Dvalishvili, Khatia Mumladze, and Ana Jioshvili – who showed admirable determination for a small local media outlet in producing a series of investigations which documented and publicized violations, misuses of power and inappropriate spending of budgetary resources by Gori municipal NNLEs.
“To see local media outlets take on the abuse of power, money or resources in their own back yard is rare, for as a local journalist you are personally known by the people you investigate and are thus often particularly vulnerable when digging deep. It deserves all our praise and support,” said jury member Margo Smit, president of the Organization of News Ombudsmen and vice-chair of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.
Lastly, the Jury would like to make a special acknowledgement of Basti Mgaloblishvili from Publika.ge, as well as all journalists and media workers covering “Tbilisi Pride” who became targets of mass violence and attacks and who were injured while performing their professional duty amidst widespread violence by misogynistic groups attempting to disrupt the Pride events.
“By relying on the work of courageous journalists who covered the violence on July 5th, and by analyzing anti-LGBTQ and anti-free press discourse in parts of media ahead of the Pride, Publika managed to connect the dots and demonstrate that the violence against the journalists was premeditated," – said contest judge Dr. Maia Mikashavidze, director of the Internews Branch Office in Georgia.
“The journalists who did these stories were tenacious and fearless in their drive to expose the abuses of the powerful and the neglectful behavior of government agencies,” said jury member Brant Houston, who is the chair of the board of directors of the Global Investigative Journalism Network and teaches at the University of Illinois. “Their work shows that investigative reporting in the public interest is alive and thriving in Georgia despite the challenges journalists face.”
The Georgia Shining Light Awards seeks to identify and acknowledge the work of those journalists and media outlets which has both exposed uncomfortable truths and led to broader societal efforts to seek accountability and tangible positive changes for the citizens of Georgia.
