How to Maintain Journalism Ethics When Oligarchs Nominated as Election Candidates? Opinion

Carefully reviewing the lists of election candidates, journalists have to violate ethical norms because they have no alternative, said Hetq Investigative Journalists NGO president, hetq.am chief editor Edik Baghdasaryan in his speech at a seminar and training for journalists in Armenia titled “Reliable, Responsible and Balanced Coverage of the 2012 Parliamentary Elections” organized by the Europe in Law Association, the OSCE Yerevan office and the US Embassy in Armenia, taking place in Congress Hotel from Apr. 2–3.

Speaking about journalism ethics during election period, Baghdasaryan said included on lists of candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election are those on whom journalists have uncovered various dirt over the years, people who have engaged in electoral fraud and against whom criminal cases are even launched.

“And now they tell journalists, you have to maintain journalistic ethics. How can we observe journalistic ethics when you know everything about those people? Let me cite some examples: [ruling Republican Party of Armenia MP, tycoon] Samvel Aleksanyan [pictured] organizes a pre-election meeting near the Yerevan City [supermarket] in Malatya [a district in Yerevan]. How should the reporter begin her report? She has to say (right?) that [Aleksanyan] is a well-known oligarch; he has six Yerevan City [supermarkets] in the city and is preparing to build three more; he is the main importer of sugar — the importer of 99% [of the sugar market]. He sells counterfeit vodka in this Yerevan City here; he’s been fined five times by the State Commission for the Protection of Economic Competition; he continues to sell counterfeit vodka; and most importantly, he is known in public by the name Lfik Samo. The journalist isn’t expressing any position, she is simply listing that which is; the journalist is objective, is presenting the objective facts. I didn’t even say the most important part: he’s been involved in some criminal activity,” Baghdasaryan said.

As another example, the Hetq Investigative Journalists NGO president cited Rule of Law (Orinats Yerkir, or OEK) MP Heghine Bisharyan, stressing that journalists, when referring to her, cannot not say her closest friend’s assessment of her — “a lioness”.

“Or speaking about [Republican Party of Armenia MP candidate Artashes] Geghamyan, shouldn’t we say that a few years ago the president called him a dhole [wild dog]? This is just making facts public, but media experts can immediately say it’s a breach of ethics. And they do,” he said.

Photo: Hetq.am