On May 14, 2024, Davit Keshelava, Lead Economist of the ISET Policy Institute, presented the newly developed Media (de)Polarization Index at the FREE Network conference titled: “Online Political Influence and Misinformation”. The presentation outlined the motivation behind the research, methodology, framework, and key findings.

Davit highlighted the growing political polarization in Georgia, a phenomenon recognized by both local and international bodies, including the EU Commission. He discussed the methodology involving the collection of 500,000 news articles from 35 websites and the training of a Doc2Vec model for Georgian text. The Media Polarization Index was designed to measure the extent of polarization by analyzing the dissimilarity between news articles, distinguishing between legitimate differences and political biases.

Key findings revealed an increase in media polarization since 2020, with a notable spike from early 2022. The index demonstrated significant polarization around major events, such as elections. However, public perception of polarization did not always align with the index. Furthermore, the researchers found a correlation between media polarization and the ratings of the two leading political parties, suggesting that increased polarization benefits these parties.

The presentation provided valuable insights into the media landscape in Georgia and its impact on public opinion and political dynamics.