Coverage of youth issues in Georgian local media

Abstract

Media has a huge influence on people's consciousness, formation and transformation of public opinion. Because of these opportunities it is referred as "the forth government''. The media environment of Georgia is diverse. Which includes television channels, news agencies, print media, radio, etc. however, the central (capital based) media outlets enjoy distinctive popularity, financial and material support in the country. In developed countries, local media is the voice of a particular region and, in general, a strong link in the media enviroment. Regional press and TV stations of Georgia struggle with budget deficit and shortage of qualified personnel. Their rating is low. The inertness of the regional media causes decreased interest among young people in them. Therefore part of the society believes that the regional media has no audience and its presence or absence does not change anything. In fact the local media has enough information resources to cover the information field of a specific region or municipality. Young people's interest in local media is, above all, is a prerequisite for maintaining and developing regional means of mass communication.