Lisa Basishvili, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and ARISC Fellow
September 7, 2022 at 5:00-6:30 PM Tbilisi Time (9:00 AM EDT)
This presentation is part of a PhD research project, an interdisciplinary study based on three-phase research that explores the interrelation between television media and democratic processes in Georgia. Despite extreme polarization in the media and politics and deep-rooted distrust of Georgians towards the media landscape, the current study aims to observe how the prevalent attitude is changed through public discussion opportunities. The latter resonates well with the democratic processes and creates the possibility to deliberate among hitherto inactive parts of the polarized population when a series of pilot television programs support the creation of a solid information base on social issues, which later will serve as the precondition for deliberation. This approach of media and deliberative mini-publics should help transform individual preferences when locals can develop more informed, reflective, and considered opinions hardly possible before due to people’s polarized points of view and without a culture of sharing common problems with others.
Lisa Basishvili, recipient of an ARISC Small Grant, has 20+ years of working experience with internal and external partners as a full-time staff member (and freelancing) of multiple international organizations, donor-funded programs & projects, and short/long-term missions of foreign experts to Georgia specialized in coordination, planning, interpreting and management of program activities, logistics, PR/outreach, and communication. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Tbilisi State University (TSU) with hands-on experience in planning, organizing, and implementing research activities to collect information through different research methods applied in media and deliberative democracy. Her research is currently ongoing in the Guria region, for which she uses a deliberative mini public (DMP) model for civic engagement.
This talk is organized as a part of ARISC Online Event Series that showcase the work of ARISC fellows. ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or status as a covered veteran.