CULTURE OF CONSUMING INFORMATION – ON A LOW LEVEL IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 18:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Very often, people in Armenia trust unreliable
foreign sources rather than local media," Deputy Head of Armenian
Public Relations Association Arman Saghatelyan said.

To avoid such sources’ influence on public in information
war circumstances, Sagatelyan emphasized journalists’ role and
professionalism which may help society distinguish between information
and disinformation. "Secondly, it is necessary to disallow publication
of low quality analytical works which also produces a negative impact
on Armenian society’s culture of consuming information," he noted.

Saghatelyan also stressed the importance of not confusing journalism
with information warfare since these are different spheres with
different methodologies and mechanisms. "It would be good if our
journalists were aware of such mechanisms to be able to differentiate
reliable information from propaganda," he stressed.

With regard to Armenian media’s current situation, Deputy Head of
Association noted that over the past year the number of Armenian Web
sites has increased by 5-6 times, while the number of satellite TV
channels has increased from 1 to 3. "That’s a fair example that we
are making progress in the sphere," Saghatelyan added.