ONE-SIDED COVERING OF EVENTS BECOMES USUAL EVENT FOR ARMENIAN MASS
MEDIA, "A1+" EDITOR SAYS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The last draft to the law on
television and radio proves that nothing essencial is done in Armenia
in the sense of strategy in the direction of supporting improvement of
the freedom of information. RA Ombudsman Armen Haroutiunian expressed
such an opinion during the October 20 round table on the theme
"Armenian Mass Media on the Eve of 2007 Parliamentary Elections." The
event was organized by the Armenian representation of the "Article
19" international public organization. In A.Haroutiunian’s words,
every new draft relating to this sphere must become a stable step of
progress in the issue of securing the freedom of information. But,
the draft put in circulation is not capable to become such one. The
Ombudsman mentioned that it is not enough to touch upon the theme
of the freedom of expression only on the eve of elections, it is
necessary to do everyday work in that direction.
A.Haroutiunian also expressed opinion that it will be possible to raise
the level of public awareness only in the case of securing variety of
political opinions. In words of Mesrop Movsisian, the editor of the
"A1+" electronic newspaper, "if the freedom of press is much spoken
about in any country, it means that the country has serious problems
in that sphere." In his words, the "sad experience" of mass media
showed during the 2003 elections that variety of opinions in Armenia
is of formal character: one-sided covering of events became a usual
event." M.Movsisian emphasized that according to his observation,
today the Armenian society "believes romour heard in the market more
than an official information broadcast on TV."