The new Multimedia Education Center opening March 14, 2012 in Tbilisi will change journalism education in Georgia. The Center provides journalism students the opportunity to work in multiple media platforms, alongside professional journalists, using the latest visual media tools. The MEC, established as part of the IREX-implemented, USAID-funded G-MEDIA (Georgian Media Enhance Democracy, Informed citizenry and Accountability [6]) program, is equal parts laboratory, studio and forum, and offers an immersive learning environment for journalism students.
The Center's grand opening is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and will be livestreamed from Tbilisi [7]. The full video will be archived and made available after the event on the same site.
G-MEDIA staff worked with USAID to build the center to address the lack of adequate facilities, access to current equipment and studio environments in today’s Georgian journalism schools. Students from the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM) [8] and the new Media School of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – G-MEDIA’s two primary journalism education partners – will gain hands-on experience in the high-tech facility. The skills they learn will easily transfer to jobs in professional media.
The space functions as a multi-platform stage where every square meter provides an environment for interviewing, editing, producing and hosting multi-platform content. One unique feature is that the furniture and walls can be easily moved to change the design and layout of the space. The lab can also be used as a live event space for lectures, movie screenings, conferences, workshops or political debates. The lab’s design also provides broadcast-quality live streaming of video from these events. On a larger scale, the MEC will serve as a hub for discussions that intersect across the disciplines of technology, journalism, and governance in Georgia and throughout the South Caucasus.