Netgazeti & Batumelebi happen to be one of the oldest media outlets in Georgia. Having worked under three different governments, both position themselves as independent and cover events in three languages — Georgian, Russian and English.
Now, their founder Mzia Amaghlobeli is under arrest. Her charges of assaulting a police officer are deemed to be politically motivated by her colleagues, NGOs and government critics, who demand her release.
Warning about the possible conflict of interests: author of this article is a former Netgazeti reporter, who worked there for six years.
Batumelebi is a local media about Adjara capital Batumi, Netgazeti is a national one
BBC Media Guide (reliable source about media in various countries) considers both “as professional and independent”. Netgazeti also has a Russian-language version, banned in Russia for covering the story of Russian general killed in Ukraine, as well as a X (former Twitter) account covering events in English.
Batumelebi (Batumians) were founded almost 24 years ago
Its first edition saw the light on the May 26th, 2001. Back then it was a print newspaper about Batumi and Adjara. Founders, Eter Turadze, Mzia Amaghlobeli and Tedo Jorbenadze had a background of working for the Adjara Public Broadcaster. “Ultimately, we left it with the intention to do media, not propaganda”, Turadze remembers. Newspaper concentrates on local issues — about the chaotic construction and corruption, illegal parking and others. For first 9 years Batumelebi was a print media, but since 2010 it also has a website.
Management found unorthodox ways to fund the work — they opened a café and a hostel
The team looked for the ways of independent funding, so it would not fully depend on grants and ad revenue. In the end of 2000s, the organization opened a café, followed by a hostel in the Batumi office, which closed during the Covid pandemic. They also published books — for instance, about Batumi History. There also were non-commercial projects, such as Travelling Library, which delivered books to the mountainous villages of Adjara.
Netgazeti, while more famous, is a younger sibling of Batumelebi
Netgazeti was established in 2010. Editor-in-chief Nestan Tsetskhladze said the goal was to do “what Batumelebi do [quality and objective journalism with fact-checking — PIK], but on national level”. Unlike Batumelebi, Netgazeti began as an online media which reported on Georgian and foreign affairs. It also had features about Anaklia Port, Georgian politics and LGBTQ+ rights.
Journalists of Batumelebi & Netgazeti have been beaten and blackmailed before
In 2011, special forces, while dispersing an opposition rally, directly shot Netgazeti reporters with rubber bullets, former Netgazeti employee, Konstantin Stalinsky told Paper Kartuli. In 2009, policeman threatened Investigative team chief Tedo Jorbenadze with spreading his photos of intimate nature. While threats didn’t come true, those who made them were never punished. It didn’t stop during the “Georgian Dream” government, either — during the 2023 protests against the “Foreign agents law” special forces beat Netgazeti reporter Mikheil Gvadzabia.
