Epress.am News from Armenia
The main source of information for current news and events for residents of Armenia is television, followed by the Internet, then radio and newspapers.
The Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), within the framework of a Eurasia Partnership Foundation program, presented its findings on a poll of opinions and preferences of Armenian residents regarding news agencies conducted this year.
The poll, comprised of 90 questions, was conducted in 1,400 households around the country.
Researchers found that though 90% of those polled follow the news on television, 14% of them don’t trust the television at all, while 8% completely trusted national TV channels and 10% completely trusted local TV channels.
Seven percent of respondents say they follow news online, 7% of which said they don’t trust websites at all and 7% said they fully trusted sites.
Asked how much they agree with the view that news agencies cover events objectively, 13% of respondents said they fully trusted information reported by online news agencies; 8%, television; 7%, newspapers; and 7%, radio.
When asked why reporting is not objective respondents said the reason was an attachment to a political entity (an overwhelming 63%), censorship (8%), and an attachment to business circles (6%), while 11% said they didn’t know the reason.
Asked how much Armenian news agencies are independent of control from the government and/or the business sector, respondents said largely independent are social networking sights (12%), online news reports (10%); national TV channels (6%); and national newspapers, local TV channels and national radio stations (5% each).
Within the context of the same question, 29% of respondents considered national TV channels not independent at all; 21%, national newspapers; and 10%, online news reports and social networking sites.