THERE ARE SEVERAL WONDERFUL LAWS IN ARMENIA

Lragir.am
21 June 06

Considerable progress was reported with regard to the legislation
on freedom of the media in Armenia, and the state of the media does
not use all the possibilities and is limited to some extent. Miklos
Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media came to this
conclusion during the two days spent in Armenia. On June 21 he met with
Armenian journalists and told about his impressions from his visit.

It is interesting that Miklos Haraszti was invited to Armenia by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, but the program of his visit
was worked by the OSCE. In accordance with the program, Haraszti met
with the representatives of the government and the non-governmental
sector of Armenia. He also met with the president of Armenia. During
the news conference Miklos Haraszti announced that despite his
meetings, they learn about the state of freedom of the media in
Armenia from statistics, publications, the OSCE Yerevan Office.

Haraszti’s impression is that only press is free in Armenia. He said
he found out that there is perfect pluralism of opinions.

However, he says, pluralism in press is not observed in such
influential media as TV companies. According to him, public events
are not covered objectively.

Miklos Haraszti says the main cause of this state is legislation,
and only legislative improvements will enable having independent TV
channels. Haraszti also mentions the fact that monopoly of air should
be battled as well. It should be set down in the law that the same
group of owners cannot have more than one TV company.

On the other hand, however, he says the law is not enough to guarantee
freedom of press. He said there are several excellent laws and
emphasized the law on freedom of information. But according to him,
it needs to be applied. Nevertheless, he considers upgrading of
legislative mechanisms as a key issue. With this regard, Haraszti
emphasized the bill on distribution of press, which has already
been introduced to the National Assembly. The bill provides for
licensing companies for distribution of press. Haraszti disapproves
this approach. According to him, it is very important that the
parliamentarians recognize the importance of free competition
in distribution of press. According to the OSCE representative,
distribution should be as free and competitive as press itself.