Journalists and media managers of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) underwent online training on the topic of Constructive News on June 8. The founder and head of the independent Constructive Institute in Aarhus, Ulrik Haagerup, led the course.

“We live in a time where democracy is fragile and media plays a crucial role in that. Not because we want to,  not because of misinformation or fake news, but because of the news culture we have in your or my country, in newsrooms all over the world. We have a tendency to polarize society. We give the access, microphone and airwaves to the most extreme and the most laud and those with the most likes. We invite people with a big mouth and no ears into our studios. People are getting sick and tired of hearing the politicians’ yelling. Sometimes we do not have the right tools in order to tackle it. Constructive journalism is a way of talking about this, a more responsible kind of journalism, a way of thinking about our role in society, but also the concrete tools that could help journalism to play a more constructive role in society.

We should give people nuances by combining and covering the good and the bad, happy and the sad. There are problems in society, the job of good journalism is to uncover that. But we have a tendency just to stop there and find new problems. So we should also do stories about people who have found a way to combat these problems because that is inspirational.

You have to be critical, you do not have to be aggressive. But you should be curious. Being critical is not the goal of the good newsroom, but the most crucial tool in order to give people the best obtainable version of the truth.

The journalist should be transparent about what he/she does and why does it. Being in a public service company means constantly being criticized by everybody. They may constantly say that you are too negative or too positive, too critical or not critical, you cover this too much or too little. But just imagine the alternative when people did not care about what you do. Then you would be completely irrelevant.

The journalist should be transparent and should remember its mission. You are here to serve not the government, not the opposition but the Georgian population. You are owned by the public, not by the state,” Ulrik Haagerup declared in an interview with Georgian Public Broadcaster.