Released on November 20, 2019
About MEC
Multimedia Education Centre (MEC) is a Georgian non-profit organization.
Located in a 380 square-meter space in the center of Tbilisi, the MEC boasts stateof-the-art training and learning space and offers a variety of equipment for media
content production. The MEC was established by the USAID supported G-MEDIA
program (2010-2014) and is supported by M-TAG (2014-2019) program,
implemented by IREX.
The mission of the MEC is to encourage innovation in education, and establish,
preserve, and advance standards of excellence in academic and professional
journalism education, communications, and related fields. It is also committed to
empowering youth and adults by preparing them to communicate effectively in all
media forms as well as to access, understand, analyze and evaluate images, sounds
and text that represent modern media culture.
About the project
The proposed project titled “Fake Detector” supports engagement of journalists
from Armenia and Georgia in countering misinformation by gaining practical
knowledge and development of individual creativity and self-expression through
different ways of storytelling.
The goal of the project is to help participants gain practical and theoretical skills
and knowledge to counter disinformation. The journalists representing media
outlets from the neighboring countries will work jointly on the content. Every
month, during the production process MEC will provide them with video lessons,
to help create animation, infographics, and stay aware of the challenges with
misinformation.
“Fake Detector” will consist of five phases. All the meetings will be held in Tbilisi
and led by highly skilled and experienced mentors from Georgia and Ukraine. The
content produced by project participants will be showcased at MEC.
“Fake Detector” will be highly interactive to ensure active involvement of
participants.
Working language
Working language will be English and Russian.
Who can apply
Media outlets based in Armenia with strong interest and some experience in
multimedia reporting, regardless of their main publishing platform (print, TV,
radio, web), both from and outside the capital, are encouraged to apply.
To qualify for the project, the media outlets should meet the following
requirements:
• Pursue an independent editorial policy and be free from any political and
business influences;
• Have a website with features that support multimedia publishing as the
main or part of the publishing platforms;
• The content should be available in English and/or Russian languages;
• The media outlet should have at least 8 staff members focused on content
production;
• The media outlet should have some equipment that is used for shooting
and editing multimedia stories;
• Should have specific story ideas for co-production with Georgian media
outlets.
What does partnership with MEC entail:
The “Fake Detector” engages and creates a group of journalists from Armenia and
Georgia to counter disinformation. As a result of the project, participants will:
Obtain skills and knowledge necessary for detection of disinformation.
Better understand importance of media literacy and the shared challenges
the two countries face in this regard.
Learn to visualize and distribute their stories.
Each team will disprove one myth that exists in both two countries.
1. The first five-day long Winter School in December 2019
A total of 10 participant will be selected for the workshop. Six of these participants
will come from Armenian online and broadcast media outlets and four from
Georgian regional media outlets. The applicants who already work to detect
disinformation, have interest in creating multimedia content for online media, and
want to work with Armenian/Georgian counterparts, will be given preference in
selection process.
Selected candidates will be invited to 5-day workshop in Tbilisi, at MEC, in
December 16-20, 2019.
Throughout the project, workshop participants, will learn how to detect
disinformation and will jointly create content to disprove myths in Armenia and
Georgia. They will receive feedback and guidance from professional mentors. The
participants will improve skills in video shooting, video editing, and will learn
how to create multimedia projects. The technical equipment, such as cameras,
microphones, and editing computers will be provided by MEC.
2. Remote mentorship
After the Winter School, MEC mentors will remotely help the media outlets fleshout co-production projects. MEC will provide participants with video tutorials.
Once a month, MEC will select a foreign journalist working in Georgia, who will
discuss fake news of the month and explain how it was detected and his/her
personal challenge debunking it. MEC will film 5-minute video tutorials using
MEC’s technical facilities.
3. Small grants
After the workshop, small grants will be issued to four Georgian ($400 each) and
six Armenian ($800 each) media outlets to cover some production related
expenses. The co-production will start in January 2020.
4. Finalizing Fake Detector, June 2020
During the final meeting in Tbilisi, participants will present their stories at MEC.
They will receive feedback from mentors and industry professionals. After
presentation in July 2020, they will be able to upload materials to their online
platforms.
5. Tuition, board and travel support
The MEC will cover the costs of participation in the Winter School in December
2019 and the final meeting in June 2020. The participants will be provided with
meals and accommodation at a hotel. MEC will cover cost of train, taxi, or minibus
tickets.
6. Commitment to partnership
This project will require that partner organizations be willing to invest resources
(time, staff time for training and mentoring), be fully engaged, and efficiently
communicate with MEC staff and experts.
Mutual respect, sincere effort, and professional collaboration will form the
foundation of this assistance.
7. Evaluation Criteria for Applications
The applications will be evaluated by MEC staff and Georgian and Armenian
media experts against the criteria listed below. Scoring values are shown for each
criteria section.
Journalism Content and Public Service (40%)
1. Editorial independence from political, business, or other interest
groups;
2. Compliance with fundamental professional journalism standards of
accurate, fair, and responsible reporting;
3. Adequate production facilities.
New Media (40%)
1. Adequate technical skills and/or website operations;
2. Open-minded, creative, and entrepreneurial approach to new media;
3. Capacity for multimedia content production;
Ability of the organization to efficiently handle partnership commitments (20%)
Please mail a signed and sealed application or electronically scanned,
in PDF format to ekadagishvili@mecg.ge Please request confirmation
of receipt after submission.
Deadline: December 9; 17:00pm (Georgian time)
MEC
10a, Al. Chavchavadze Street
Tbilisi 0108, Georgia
Office: 00 995 32 2251 895
In the application media outlets should provide the following information:
Contact information
Name and title of a contact person:
Phone:
Email:
Basic information about the organization:
Legal Name of Organization (in English):
Brand Name(s) of Organization’s Media Product(s) (in English, but as pronounced
in a local language):
Address:
Phone:
organization – if it is registered: (for-profit, non-profit, etc.):
Please provide a copy of your organization’s registration certificate.
Enclosed: Not Enclosed (Explain):
Please list the names of the following individuals:
Chairman of the Board of Directors:
President:
Executive Director:
List your total number of employees, working in editorial positions, in the
following categories:
Total full-time employees: ______ total part-time Employees: _______
Brief history of media outlet
Description of media organizations in maximum 100 words
• Founding date and history
• Goal and mission
Financial sustainability:
How would you describe your organization:
a). Self-sustaining (earns income from advertising and supplemental business
activities)
b). Semi self-sustaining (receives part of funding from donors and earns income
from advertising and supplemental business activities)
c). Donor dependent (received majority of funding from donors)
Please list donors which currently support you or have supported you in the past.
Do you receive support from national or local governments?
If yes please provide details.
Journalism and Public Service (narrative)
How would you describe the adequacy of your content production facilities both
in terms of space and equipment? Does your media outlet have the facilities
required to produce content that is of high quality?
Idea for co-production in Georgia
The applicants should present two or more story ideas for co-production with
Georgian counterparts. The story idea should be presented in the following
format: description of a proposed story in maximum 200 words.
MEC encourages
the applicants to enclose visual materials (photo, video, data) to the description.
The story description must answer 5Ws: What, When, Who, Where, Why.
It is not necessary for applicants to have a partner media outlet in Georgia
identified at the moment of application. MEC will match Georgian media outlet
based on the story ideas.
Basic facts
Project duration: November 2019 – June 2020
Working language: English and Russian
Calendar
December 2019: 5-day Winter School
June 2020: One day presentation
Venue: All trainings will take place in the MEC.
Trainers and mentors: MEC Director, MEC Technical Manager, IREX trainers,
and free-lance trainers.
Teaching Method: Participants should attend training sessions conducted by
MEC.
Trainees will have access to the technical equipment of the MEC while in
Georgia. Mentors will also support participants remotely.
