(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Media attention to Georgia grew significantly since 2003 Rose Revolution , which upheld the
world opinion that this small, post-soviet country in the Caucasus cherished democracy in the
part of the world that was long known for its Communist past and authoritarian, autocratic
regime.
However, further developments have shown signs of a constant battle between the past and the
future, especially, from its bullying neighbor Russia. As a legacy from the Soviet policy Georgia
inherited pro-Russian enclaves Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This resulted in ethnic cleansing of
Georgians in 1990s and Georgia lost a significant part of its territory. The issue of separatist
republics was effectively manipulated by the Russian authorities against Georgia several times,
however, a recent outbreak in August 2008 became widely known in the media as Russia-
Georgia war in contrast with the earlier hidden tension.
The first part of the paper examines articles published in the New York Times for a period of
twelve months August 2008-2009 and focuses on how Russia- Georgia war was interpreted. To
analyze the data qualitative methods were employed, specifically coding and enumeration.
The second part of the paper serves to compare and describe media coverage of news from
Georgia in the years 2006-2007. This helps to depict a broader picture how media has covered
news from Georgia, whether there is a sign of subjectivity and changes in the attitude.
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