Georgia is experiencing a critical milestone of political imbalance. At this time, we wanted to better understand the preferences and behaviours of Gen Z so that IMS can support our media partners to identify ways to engage and mobilise Gen Z on topics related to the 2024 elections. This report and resources pack aims to do this.
Working with International Media Support and local partners, we set out to learn as much as possible about youth audiences and political engagement to translate that into effective content production. This document offers a summary of this research, provides a framework for how publishers can respond to them and mini case studies to illuminate how others have responded to similar challenges.
Research informed framework: The suggestions are directly informed by research findings carried outapproximately 50 GenZ participants in Georgia between April 2024 and September 2024. Workshops were heldvirtually and physically in locations such as Tblisi, Ambrolauri, Batumi, Ozurgeti, Zugdidi, Kharagauli, Sighaghiand other cities across Georgia. Further desk-based research was also conducted to validate or develop our primaryinsights. The findings were then developed to provide a framework for how publishers can best target GenZ withindependent public interest content in the current political context.
Aims: This reearch is aimed at publishers wanting to better target content on the run up to the election. Its recommendations span immediate actions relating to content and style, and longer-term actions to help strengthen GenZ engagement. It incorporates ‘mini-case studies’, taken form international sources, to show how other media publishers have responded to these challenges and opportunities in their own context. Additional resources are provided at the end of this document. It should be used as a prompt for inspiration and action.
Public interest content needs
The empirical work carried out offers key insights into how to target Georgian GenZ with public interest content. We have identified core needs that can form the basis of editorial responses. These include content that is ‘authentic’, that ‘matters’, that ‘connects’ and that is trustworthy.
Building on further insights in the research data, these needs have then been translated into specific actions and approaches that publishers could consider as part of their strategy to engage with this demographic. They span ‘content focus’, ‘content style and strategic approaches’. From these needs and actions, we have included short examples of how a variety of publishers are responding in practice.