The ruling party of the Eastern European country of Georgia is called Georgian Dream and it tries to foster a dreamlike image of a new dawn. The party was started by a billionaire and it took power in its first election with a well-financed campaign, a broad coalition, and a standard slate of center-left policies. But after a few years in power, voters started to claim that the party's actions were not always matching its words.
Its foreign policy was notoriously pro-Russia and its domestic policy was becoming increasingly authoritarian. At this point it's not just protesters—even diplomats of the U.S. and the European Union are publicly claiming Georgian Dream is undermining democracy in Georgia.
Terrell J. Starr, along with producer Michael Hull, both founders of Black Diplomats, went to Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, where huge protests have forced the ruling party to push back on all fronts, in the headlines and on the streets. There have been clashes between police and demonstrators, but some of the protests are so large nothing can be done to quiet them. As a result, there is more than one narrative now and even state-aligned media have been forced to cover the protests.
Black Diplomats partnered with the Pulitzer Center and MSNBC to produce on-the-ground interviews and original reporting from Georgia, as well as live reporting on YouTube from Tbilisi.
