YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 1-7, 2004
HIGHLIGHTS:
“PRESS CLUB” ON AIR
HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED
COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE
MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA
YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD
“PRESS CLUB” ON AIR
On October 4 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the “Press
Club” program cycle was launched. The cycle is organized by Yerevan Press
Club under “Strengthening Democracy by Free Expression in South Caucasus”
project, implemented jointly with “Article 19” international organization
with the assistance of Open Society Institute. Once every two weeks, on
Mondays the heads of leading Armenian media and journalistic associations
will gather in the studio of the Second Channel to discuss the topical
issues, also of information sphere.
One of the main subjects of the first “Press Club” show was the
media-related legislation, in particular laws “On Mass Communication”, “On
Freedom of Information” and “On Television and Radio”. The second issue
discussed referred to the documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe that have recently been at the focus of media attention:
two draft reports, on Mountainous Karabagh (rapporteur Terry Davis) and that
of the Monitoring Committee on the fulfillment of Armenia’s commitments to
the Council of Europe (corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre).
HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED
On October 7 in the court of primary jurisdiction of Kotayk region of
Hrazdan city hearings on the case of attack on the correspondent of
“Photolure” news agency Mkhitar Khachatrian and the obstruction of
professional activities of Mkhitar Khachatrian and the correspondent of
“Aravot” daily Anna Israelian started. As it has been reported, the incident
occurred on August 24 in Tsaghkadzor, where the journalists were preparing a
piece on the forest cutting in the vicinity of sports complex for the
construction of summerhouses of high-ranked officials. After the end of the
shootings the memory chip of Khachatrian’s camera was taken away by force
(see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 26 – September 2, 2004).
Charges of public disorder (part 1 of Article 258 of the RA Criminal Code)
and the obstruction of legitimate professional activities of journalists
(part 1 of Article 164 of the RA Criminal Code) were introduced to a Yerevan
resident, formerly twice convicted Gagik Stepanian.
At the first session the court started the interrogation of the parties. The
next session is scheduled for October 11.
COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE
On October 4 in Yerevan the Partnership for Open Society Initiative, uniting
over 40 public organizations, held discussions of the draft report of the
PACE Monitoring Committee on implementation of Resolutions 1361 (2004) and
1374 (2004) on the honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia
(corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre), to be heard on October 7 at
the PACE session. At the discussion comments on the report developed by the
Partnership for Open Society Initiative were presented, too.
In the beginning of the comments the Initiative points out the preferability
of a more detailed examination of the situation in Armenia and their taking
into account the opinions not only the state representatives but also of the
NGO-community. “We work together with the government, international
organizations and civil society towards achieving the common goal of
democratic reforms in Armenia”, the comments read. “This will happen only if
accurate information and analysis is provided. Unfortunately, lack of
accurate information and thorough analysis of the situation is manifest in
both the points that the rapporteurs highlighted as positive and also in
those that they present as negative.”
The omissions named are also present in the reference the corapporteurs make
to the media situation. Thus, in item 3 iii of the draft report of the
Monitoring Committee it is noted that “the investigations on incidents and
human rights abuses reported during the recent events, including assaults on
journalists and human rights activists, were led and information was
provided to the Assembly on their findings and of any legal action taken
against persons responsible”. Yet, as the comments of the Partnership note,
the corapporteurs do not specify that the investigation of many such cases
was stopped, and it was not conducted at all on the abuse of journalists by
the police on the night of April 12-April 13, 2004. The events of April
12-April 13 were not reflected in the report at all, even though in them
several journalists were injured. Only the punishment imposed on two
attackers for violence against journalists on the rally of April 5, 2004 is
mentioned (the punishment left the journalistic community and the public
discontent, the comments note).
In the opinion of the Monitoring Committee, the request to the National
Commission on Television and Radio to add arguments when awarding broadcast
licenses, as stipulated in the last amendments to the RA Law “On Television
and Radio”, will prevent “the adoption of arbitrary decisions” (item 9). The
corapporteurs also hope that the expected renewal of the composition of the
NCTR, proceeding from the same amendments to the broadcast law, will
contribute to the creation of “fair conditions for awarding broadcast
licenses to televisions, in particular ‘A1+'” (item 11 iii). Firstly, the
comments of the Partnership stress, the mere giving additional arguments is
not a guarantee for preventing arbitrary decisions. This requires other
methods of open and public discussion, too, also involvement of NGO
representatives and experts into the process of bid evaluation, as allowed
by Article 26 of the RA Law “Statutes of the National Commission on
Television and Radio”. Such a proposal was made by a number of NGOs to the
NCTR Chairman during the last broadcast licensing competition, however, it
was rejected. Secondly, the comments of the Initiative say, the amendments
to the broadcast law do not stipulate changes in the NCTR composition: they
only refer to competitive appointment to vacancies. And, finally, the
comments note, the corapporteurs link the creation of fair competition
conditions with the changes in the NCTR composition, whereas attention
should be drawn to its formation procedure which “does not ensure the
independence of the body and makes it a tool in the hand of the executive”.
When quoting negative examples, the comments of the Partnership note, the
report of the Monitoring Committee has a number of mistakes. Thus, item 30
of the report says: “The situation regarding media still gives cause for
concern. Newspapers are regularly found guilty in court and ordered to pay
heavy fines for publishing defamatory articles about prominent figures in or
close to the government.” Yerevan Press Club and the Committee to Protect
Freedom of Expression monitor the media situation, also the media-related
litigations, and during the past year, fortunately, nothing has been
recorded, the Initiative writes in its comments.
Among the most vivid examples of information lack, in the opinion of the
Partnership, was the mentioning of the corapporteurs that “Kentron” TV
company stopped broadcasting and was replaced by “Aravot” TV company. In
reality, the comments explain, “Kentron” did not stop its activities, it
only changed the air name. As the corapporteurs note, “Yerkir Media” TV
company that got a broadcast license is managed by Armenian Diaspora. In the
Partnership’s comments this statement is characterized as “irresponsible”.
MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA
On October 4-6 in Yerevan a training seminar for non-governmental
organizations representing various society groups and minorities and for
journalists of Armenia was held. The training on NGO relations with media
was organized by the London-based Media Diversity Institute under “Minority
Empowerment and Media Development in South Caucasus” project, implemented
with the financial assistance of the European Union and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The practical activation of relations of
the “third sector” and the “fourth estate” were discussed in the mode of
interactive communication, moderated by Tim Grout-Smith and Lily Poberezhska
(“Media Player International” consultancy partnership, UK) and Elina
Poghosbekian (Yerevan Press Club).
YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD
On October 1 the Journalism Department of the Yerevan State University
celebrated the fifth anniversary since it was founded. The Journalism
Department grew out of the journalism major groups of the YSU Philological
Department. The greeting address of the Yerevan Press Club noted the
progress of the study process, the availability of technical facilities and
wished the school success, conscientious students and open-minded graduates.
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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