MASS MEDIA OUTLETS HAVE BECOME CLOSED CLUBS FOR OPPOSITION FIGURES,
"OYP" DEPUTY CHAIRWOMAN SAYS
YEREVAn, JANUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian mass media outlets have
become closed clubs for opposition figures in recent period, the deputy
chairwoman of "Orinats Yerkir" Party (OYP) Heghine Bisharian said at
the January 11 discussion "The Problems and Guarantees of Ensuring the
Freedom and Pluralism of the Mass Media in the RA Presidential Election
Campaign". According to her, since the parliamentary elections in May
2007 until now, representatives of the authorities have been given the
opportunity to speak constantly on all television channels. Whereas, in
her words, so far the chairman of the OYP Artur Baghdasarian has had
the chance to speak on TV only 6 times. H. Bisharian said that in such
conditions, to speak about freedom and pluralism is pure nonsense. She
pointed out that electors, especially those in marzes, have no
ooportunity to orient themselves due to this "information blockade".
Member of the National Assembly "ARF" faction Ruzan Arakelian said that
in Armenia mass media outlets are free as much as they are given
freedom. According to her, especially television companies fulfil
requirements of either those who pay them or the political forces that
stand behind them.
In the opinion of the director of the Information Analytical Center
"Noyan Tapan" Tigran Harutyunian, the political parties that should be
the most active part of society "have killed the society’s demand for
free, independent, unbiased information and analysis". In his words,
today the society seems to have no demand for such information. "Over
these years, people have lost faith: they do not believe in the role of
any political force and even their own role in political processes," T.
Harutyunian said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
