‘Why Should a Journalist have to be Professional?’ Discussion on Media in Armenia

Armenia’s National Press Club and the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) jointly organized a discussion in Yerevan today under the heading “Mass Media and its Impact on Armenia’s Public and Political Developments.” Participating in the discussion were MPs Hovhannes Sahakyan (Republican Party of Armenia, HHK), Anahit Bakhshyan (Heritage Party), Ruzan Araqelyan (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnaktsutyun, ARF-D) and Hovhannes Margaryan (Rule of Law), as well as chief editor of local daily Hraparak Armine Ohanyan (pictured) and chair of the Faculty of (Applied) Sociology at Yerevan State University Artur Atanesyan.

All the MPs present at the discussion emphasized the importance of journalists’ impartiality, particularly ahead of elections, since the public forms its opinion mainly through the news served by the media. Atanesyan, speaking about all news outlets, said they have to be the Fourth Estate and though media in Armenia claim to be such, but perhaps they are in confession, since the authorities are more powerful in this matter, he said.

The faculty chair and assistant professor also noted that TV ratings in Armenia are very low. Presenting findings from a study, Atanesyan said ratings fell primarily because of repeat broadcasts and soap operas, characterizing this phenomenon as a disgrace.

In Armenia, the press is more liberal than television, Atanesyan asserted, while the most popular means is the Internet, including the social networking site Facebook. There are serious problems with radio, he added.

“National radio is in a terrible state. Its airwaves don’t reach all of Armenia and it doesn’t work at all in Artsakh [Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh]. And the further we go from Yerevan, the more audible are Turkish frequencies, while in Artsakh, it’s Azerbaijani [radio frequencies that are heard],” he said, adding that this is even dangerous in terms of the country’s national security.

Ohanyan, in turn, asserted that the authorities greatly interfere with journalists’ work. Addressing the recent trend of taking the press to court, she said, “It’s very difficult to work in this absurd situation.”

“And when you say journalists are ignorant… Well, who said that journalists have to be very professional when all institutions in our country are in the same situation? Why does a journalist have to be very professional? Though let me say that our journalistic community is much more professional than our legislative body and more decent than our executive body,” she said.

Note, there was no one from the Prosperous Armenia parliamentary faction participating in today’s discussion. Chief editor of local daily Jamanak (“Times”) Arman Babajanyan and editor of local daily Yerkir (“Country”) Bagrat Yesayan, whose names were on the list of those participating in today’s discussion, however, were not present during the discussion.

Photo: Media.am