ARA SAGHATELIAN: ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT AZERBAIJANI MASS MEDIA REPORTS ABOUT RENEWAL OF WAR ARE MANIPULATION

NOYAN TAPAN
MARCH 23, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, MARCH 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Some media outlets of Armenia recently
published reports concerning the renewal of the Karabakh war. As
Ara Saghatelian, Director of the Public Relations and Information
Center of the RA Presidential Staff, said during the March 23 press
conference, the Armenian mass media mainly reprint materials from
Azerbaijani websites. However, according to him, Armenian journalists
should understand that reprinting such materials has its effect
on the Armenian public and that the Azerbaijanis spread them for
"manipulation" purposes.

Speaking about the recent amendments and additions to the RA Civil
Code, the RA Criminal Code, and the RA Criminal Procedure Code, A.

Saghatelian declared that they are aimed at balancing freedom of
speech and the protection of a person’s dignity.

As for the concern expressed by reporters that these amendments may
become a truncheon in the hands of the authorities against the print
media, he said that there is no problem of closing newspapers in
Armenia. He underlined that the adopted package of amendments does
not envisage any administrative procedures, simply the mass media
must become "socially responsible". In the words of A. Saghatelian,
if the current quality of the press is not improved, Armenian society
will suffer.