YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
MAY 22-28, 2009
HIGHLIGHTS:
"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: UPCOMING ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF YEREVAN
YPC PRESENTED THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF MONITORING THE COVERAGE OF
ELECTIONS OF YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY BY ARMENIAN BROADCAST MEDIA
NEW WEEKLY LAUNCHED
TITLE OF "JOURNALIST EMERITUS" AWARDED
"MEDIAMAX" CELEBRATED ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
"PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: UPCOMING ELECTIONS AND THE FUTURE OF YEREVAN
On May 23 another "Press Club" show, dealing with the elections of Yerevan
Council of Elderly on May 31, 2009, went on the air of "Yerkir Media" TV
company. The "Press Club" cycle is produced under Yerevan Press Club
project, supported by the Open Society Institute. The guests of the program
host, YPC President Boris Navasardian were representatives of six parties
and one party bloc which were registered at the RA Central Electoral
Commission for running in the elections: Mikael Melkumian ("Prosperous
Armenia"), Tigran Karapetian (first in the electoral list of the Popular
Party), Vahagn Ghazarian (Armenian National Congress), Albert Ajemian
(second in the electoral list of ARF "Dashnaktsutiun"), Movses Shakhverdian
(first in the electoral list of Labor Socialist Party of Armenia), Araik
Hovhannisian (Republican Party of Armenia), Julietta Tadevosian ("Orinats
Yerkir"). The discussion centered on the upcoming elections of the Council
of Elderly and the future of Yerevan.
The next "Press Club" show will be aired on "Yerkir Media" on Saturday, June
6 at 17.25.
YPC PRESENTED THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF MONITORING THE COVERAGE OF
ELECTIONS OF YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY BY ARMENIAN BROADCAST MEDIA
On May 22 at "Urbat" club Yerevan Press Club presented the preliminary
findings of monitoring the coverage of elections of Yerevan Council of
Elderly on May 31, 2009 by broadcast media of Armenia. The study is
implemented by Yerevan Press Club, with the assistance of Open Society
Institute, in two stages: first stage – April 16 – May 1, 2009 (ahead of the
pre-election promotion); second stage – May 2-29, 2009 (period of
pre-election promotion).
The monitoring covers 7 Armenian TV channels: 3 national channels – First
Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, "ALM", Second Armenian TV
Channel; 4 channels of Yerevan – "ArmNews", "Yerkir Media", "Kentron",
"Shant".
The monitoring subject is all programs, aired at the evening prime time of
the abovementioned TV channels, containing references to six parties and one
party bloc/their leaders/representatives, running in the elections of
Yerevan Council of Elderly; as well as the airtime, allocated for
pre-election promotion of parties/bloc.
Ahead of the official election campaign programs, aired from 18.00 till
24.00, were studied. From May 4 the beginning of monitoring was shifted to
an hour earlier – from 17.00 till 24.00. This was due to the time of
demonstration of the pre-election promotion materials of the parties/bloc.
In particular, on the First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, in
accordance with the RA Central Electoral Commission Resolution of May 2,
2009, the pre-election promotion of parties/bloc is broadcast starting from
17.15. At the same time, the programs that started but did not end before
18.00, or before 17.00 from May 4, are not studied. The programs that
started but did not end till 24.00 are studied in full, until their end (for
details on the monitoring methodology, see below).
At the meeting with the journalists on May 22 Yerevan Press Club released
the findings of monitoring, administered ahead of official election campaign
(April 16 – May 1, 2009), as well as the results, obtained during the first
two weeks of the pre-election promotion (May 2-15, 2009).
AT THE FIRST STAGE OF THE STUDY, April 16 – May 1, the leader in terms of
aggregate airtime allocated to parties/bloc in editorial coverage of all 7
TV channels studied, became the Popular Party (44,481.6 sec.). It is
followed by ARF "Dashnaktsutiun" (33,331.3 sec.). The Republican Party of
Armenia (12,289.5 sec.) and "Prosperous Armenia" (12,043.8 sec.) received
almost equal coverage. The aggregate airtime to the three other
parties/bloc, running in the elections, was allocated as follows: "Orinats
Yerkir" – 5,232.5 sec., Armenian National Congress – 4,492.4 sec., Labor
Socialist Party of Armenia – 127.1 sec. Along this dimension the parties,
whose activities were paid more attention by this or that TV channel, ahead
of the pre-election promotion, received the most coverage. Thus, the Popular
Party was widely covered in the air of "ALM", "Dashnaktsutiun" – on "Yerkir
Media", the Republican Party of Armenia – on "ArmNews", "Prosperous Armenia"
– on "Kentron".
During the period that precedes the pre-election promotion 7 TV channels
studied referred more frequently to ARF "Dashnaktsutiun" (378 references),
Republican Party of Armenia (229), "Prosperous Armenia" (154) and Armenian
National Congress (120). The leader in terms of airtime, the Popular Party
was the fourth in terms of the frequency of references (72). It is followed
by "Orinats Yerkir" (59) and Labor Socialist Party of Armenia (16). The
overwhelming majority of the references to parties/bloc were neutral
(94.6%). The most positive references were given to the Republican Party of
Armenia (22) and to "Prosperous Armenia" (19, 15 of which were remarked on
"Kentron"). The other parties received but a few positive references. All
the 22 positive references about the Republican Party of Armenia (out of
which 16 were heard on "ArmNews") were accounted for the first figure in its
electoral list, the incumbent Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglarian. Out of 8
negative references of all the TV channels studied 3 were addressed to
"Orinats Yerkir" and to Armenian National Congress each, 2 – to the
Republican Party of Armenia.
Ahead of the pre-election promotion the indisputable leader in terms of
aggregate airtime, devoted by the 7 TV channels to the first figures of the
electoral lists of parties/bloc (i.e., to candidates to Mayor of Yerevan),
became Tigran Karapetian (44,372 sec.), while Gagik Beglarian (first in the
electoral list of the Republican Party of Armenia) who took the second line,
received a bit more than seven times less coverage (6,056.5 sec.). Notably,
99.8% of the aggregate airtime, allocated by the 7 TV channels studied to
the Popular Party, was taken by its leader Tigran Karapetian.
FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THE OFFICIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN, 2-15 May, the
volume of editorial coverage of parties/bloc, running in the elections of
Yerevan Council of Elderly, has increased one and a half times, as compared
to the previous stage. Here again, the Popular Party was the leader in terms
of aggregate airtime (57,103.3 sec.). The second line was taken by
"Prosperous Armenia" (32,415.6 sec.), putting behind ARF "Dashnaktsutiun" on
the third rank (26,057.1 sec.). As compared to the previous stage, "Orinats
Yerkir" received more broad coverage and was the fourth (21,276.1 sec.),
while the Republican Party of Armenia, in the contrary, fell from the third
rank to the fifth one (17,624.1 sec.). The Armenian National Congress and
the Labor Socialist Party of Armenia, similarly to the previous stage,
closed the table, receiving 9,442.8 sec. and 4,134.6 sec., respectively.
During the first two weeks of the pre-election promotion, similarly to the
previous stage of the study, almost all the airtime (98.5%), allocated by
the 7 TV channels to Popular Party, was accounted for its leader Tigran
Karapetian.
As to the nature of the coverage, the trends marked during the previous
stage of the study, remained generally the same. In the first 14 days of the
official electoral campaign, the overwhelming majority of the references
(97.1%) on the 7 TV channels were neutral. Most of all positive references
were accorded to the Republican Party of Armenia (11 references versus 1
negative), the Popular Party (10) and "Prosperous Armenia" (9). At the same
time, the latter two did not receive any negative references. 5 out of the
11 positive references to the Republican Party of Armenia were accounted for
by "ArmNews" TV channel; they all pertained to Gagik Beglarian, number one
in the electoral list of the party. It should be also noted, that none of
the representatives of the other parties/bloc received any connotation
colored reference on "ArmNews". All the 10 references to the Popular Party
were marked on "ALM" TV channel and were addressed to its leader Tigran
Karapetian. 6 out of 9 positive references to "Prosperous Armenia" were
heard on the air of "Kentron". Among the other connotational references on
the 7 TV channels, 3 negative and positive each were addressed to "Orinats
Yerkir" and 1 negative – to the Armenian National Congress.
Ahead of the pre-election promotion and during its first two weeks all the
references of negative nature addressed to parties/bloc, their
representatives were made not by the journalists themselves, but expressed
in the opinions of the discussion programs and newscasts participants.
The paid airtime, allocated by all the 7 TV channels to parties/bloc for
pre-election promotion (political advertising), from May 2 till May 15 was
more actively used by "Prosperous Armenia" (14,141 sec.). It is followed by
the Republican Party of Armenia (4,710 sec.), ARF "Dashnaktsutiun" (3,661
sec.), "Orinats Yerkir" (3,107 sec.), Armenian National Congress (3,021
sec.). Notably, "Dashnaktsutiun" placed its paid political advertising only
on the air of "Yerkir Media". The same picture was noted with the Popular
Party, all the 856 sec. of paid airtime of which were only on "ALM" TV
channel. During the first two weeks of the electoral campaign all the
parties/bloc have used the free airtime that they are entitled to on the
First Channel of Public Television of Armenia.
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE STUDY
Monitoring objectives: to determine and define through analysis of
quantitative data
– the effectiveness of legislative regulation of the broadcast media
(primarily, the public ones) activities and the level of observance of the
legislation by the TV channels during the elections;
– the level of attention of broadcast media of Armenia to the elections of
Yerevan Council of Elderly;
– how adequate the broadcast media are in informing the electorate about
parties/party bloc, running in the elections of Yerevan Council of Elderly;
– how adequate the broadcast media are in ensuring the access to air of the
candidates to Yerevan Council of Elderly to express their views and
opinions.
To meet these objectives, methodologies of qualitative and quantitative
monitoring are applied. The qualitative monitoring includes studying
legislation and other official documents, relevant for the elections process
in Armenia, conversations with media heads, journalists, politicians,
representatives of the public, as well as the analysis of public statements,
opinions voiced regarding the media activities at pre-election time.
Quantitative monitoring includes counting and measuring of TV programs
directly.
Monitoring Methodology
All materials of the airtime studied are subdivided into two types:
1. Editorial coverage;
2. Pre-election promotion (political advertising), allocated to the
parties/bloc, running in the elections of Yerevan Council of Elderly.
All the necessary data for monitoring are recorded in two tables. Table No.1
presents the parties/bloc, running in the elections of Yerevan Council of
Elderly and the first two figures in the electoral lists of parties/bloc.
Table No.2 presents the first figures in the electoral lists.
1. The main study unit is TV piece.
2. Monitors recorded the references (in units), their connotations/nature
(positive [+], negative [-], neutral [0]), as well as the airtime (in
seconds), allocated to 7 parties/bloc, running in the elections of Yerevan
Council of Elderly, in the editorial coverage of the broadcast media
studied. The party/bloc "accounts" also received the portion of references
(their connotations) and the airtime given to the representatives of these
parties/bloc (their statements, speeches, quotations, as well as
descriptions of their activities, opinion and comment about them by other
persons). The references (their connotations), airtime dealing with the
first two numbers in the electoral lists of the parties/bloc are recorded,
regardless of the capacity these figures appeared in. In the cases with
other representatives of a party/bloc, as well as with the representatives
of an election headquarters/proxy of a party/bloc, the references (their
connotations), airtime are only recorded when their party affiliation is
somehow stressed in the TV piece.
The connotational (positive, negative) references are seen to be the ones in
the pieces that leave an undoubtedly positive or negative overall impression
on the audience about the party/bloc or its representatives. In the cases
when the connotation is not that certain, the reference is recorded as
neutral. All doubts of the monitor are interpreted towards recording a
neutral reference. Moreover, if the piece informs that any
person/organization has publicly announced its support/or lack of support to
the party/bloc, the reference to this party/bloc is recorded as
positive/negative, respectively.
In each TV piece only one reference and only one connotational sign is
recorded for every party/bloc or its representatives.
Any appearance of the first two figures in the electoral list of a
party/bloc in a TV shot, which is not a part of the piece where the
party/bloc is mentioned, is also considered to be a reference. If the
appearance in the shot is a part of the piece where the party/bloc is
mentioned, this does not count as an additional reference.
The reference (its connotation), airtime, allocated to the first figure in
the electoral list of parties/bloc are recorded in Table No.2, as well as in
the appropriate column of party/bloc in Table No.1.
Apart from recording the airtime, allocated to the number one in the
electoral list, the capacity in which it appears is also studied. Thus, the
airtime is differentiated and classed appropriately, according to whether it
was allocated to the first figure for the coverage of his/her:
1. Official and professional activities;
2. Activities that are not directly related to professional or official
duties.
3. The monitors also record and measure the volume of the materials, i.e.,
the airtime (in seconds), allocated to the party/bloc for pre-election
promotion in broadcast media studied (17.00-24.00) and marked on TV channels
as "pre-election promotion". The volume of paid and free political
advertising is measured separately. The political advertising slot that
started but did not end till 17.00 is not monitored. The political
advertising slot that started but did not end till 24.00 is studied in full,
until its end.
4. The monitors record the participants of discussion programs (interviews,
guest in studio, talk shows) for the TV channels studied by a separate list,
mentioning the TV channel, the title of the program, the name(s) and
position(s) of the participants invited. If the discussion program
participant is not the first or the second in the electoral list of
party/bloc, but other representative of party/bloc or its election
headquarters/proxy, and in the program this status is specified, in the list
of discussion program participants the program is recorded as featuring the
party/bloc.
NEW WEEKLY LAUNCHED
A new weekly, "Ankakh" ("Independent"), was launched. The newspaper has
18/A3 color pages and a claimed print run of 3,000 copies. The founder of
"Ankakh" is "V.I.V Aysor ev Vaghe" LLC. The Chief Editor of the newspaper is
Vahan Ishkhanian.
TITLE OF "JOURNALIST EMERITUS" AWARDED
On May 26 honored titles to scientists, culture and art figures were awarded
by the decree of RA President Serge Sargsian – to mark the Republic Day of
May 28. The title of "Journalist Emeritus" was given to Nver Mnatsakanian,
author and host of program cycle "Perspective" on "Shant" TV company, and to
Armen Khanbabian, political observer of "Novoye Vremya" newspaper.
"MEDIAMAX" CELEBRATED ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
On May 26 "Mediamax" news agency celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Yerevan Press Club congratulates colleagues and wishes success and
prosperity!
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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