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Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 10/07/2004

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  • Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 10/07/2004

    YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

    OCTOBER 1-7, 2004

    HIGHLIGHTS:

    "PRESS CLUB" ON AIR

    HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED

    COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE

    MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA

    YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD


    "PRESS CLUB" ON AIR

    On October 4 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the "Press
    Club" program cycle was launched. The cycle is organized by Yerevan Press
    Club under "Strengthening Democracy by Free Expression in South Caucasus"
    project, implemented jointly with "Article 19" international organization
    with the assistance of Open Society Institute. Once every two weeks, on
    Mondays the heads of leading Armenian media and journalistic associations
    will gather in the studio of the Second Channel to discuss the topical
    issues, also of information sphere.

    One of the main subjects of the first "Press Club" show was the
    media-related legislation, in particular laws "On Mass Communication", "On
    Freedom of Information" and "On Television and Radio". The second issue
    discussed referred to the documents of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
    Council of Europe that have recently been at the focus of media attention:
    two draft reports, on Mountainous Karabagh (rapporteur Terry Davis) and that
    of the Monitoring Committee on the fulfillment of Armenia's commitments to
    the Council of Europe (corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre).

    HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ATTACK ON PHOTOJOURNALIST STARTED

    On October 7 in the court of primary jurisdiction of Kotayk region of
    Hrazdan city hearings on the case of attack on the correspondent of
    "Photolure" news agency Mkhitar Khachatrian and the obstruction of
    professional activities of Mkhitar Khachatrian and the correspondent of
    "Aravot" daily Anna Israelian started. As it has been reported, the incident
    occurred on August 24 in Tsaghkadzor, where the journalists were preparing a
    piece on the forest cutting in the vicinity of sports complex for the
    construction of summerhouses of high-ranked officials. After the end of the
    shootings the memory chip of Khachatrian's camera was taken away by force
    (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 26 - September 2, 2004).
    Charges of public disorder (part 1 of Article 258 of the RA Criminal Code)
    and the obstruction of legitimate professional activities of journalists
    (part 1 of Article 164 of the RA Criminal Code) were introduced to a Yerevan
    resident, formerly twice convicted Gagik Stepanian.

    At the first session the court started the interrogation of the parties. The
    next session is scheduled for October 11.

    COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT REPORT OF THE PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE

    On October 4 in Yerevan the Partnership for Open Society Initiative, uniting
    over 40 public organizations, held discussions of the draft report of the
    PACE Monitoring Committee on implementation of Resolutions 1361 (2004) and
    1374 (2004) on the honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia
    (corapporteurs Jerzy Jaskiernia and Rene Andre), to be heard on October 7 at
    the PACE session. At the discussion comments on the report developed by the
    Partnership for Open Society Initiative were presented, too.

    In the beginning of the comments the Initiative points out the preferability
    of a more detailed examination of the situation in Armenia and their taking
    into account the opinions not only the state representatives but also of the
    NGO-community. "We work together with the government, international
    organizations and civil society towards achieving the common goal of
    democratic reforms in Armenia", the comments read. "This will happen only if
    accurate information and analysis is provided. Unfortunately, lack of
    accurate information and thorough analysis of the situation is manifest in
    both the points that the rapporteurs highlighted as positive and also in
    those that they present as negative."

    The omissions named are also present in the reference the corapporteurs make
    to the media situation. Thus, in item 3 iii of the draft report of the
    Monitoring Committee it is noted that "the investigations on incidents and
    human rights abuses reported during the recent events, including assaults on
    journalists and human rights activists, were led and information was
    provided to the Assembly on their findings and of any legal action taken
    against persons responsible". Yet, as the comments of the Partnership note,
    the corapporteurs do not specify that the investigation of many such cases
    was stopped, and it was not conducted at all on the abuse of journalists by
    the police on the night of April 12-April 13, 2004. The events of April
    12-April 13 were not reflected in the report at all, even though in them
    several journalists were injured. Only the punishment imposed on two
    attackers for violence against journalists on the rally of April 5, 2004 is
    mentioned (the punishment left the journalistic community and the public
    discontent, the comments note).

    In the opinion of the Monitoring Committee, the request to the National
    Commission on Television and Radio to add arguments when awarding broadcast
    licenses, as stipulated in the last amendments to the RA Law "On Television
    and Radio", will prevent "the adoption of arbitrary decisions" (item 9). The
    corapporteurs also hope that the expected renewal of the composition of the
    NCTR, proceeding from the same amendments to the broadcast law, will
    contribute to the creation of "fair conditions for awarding broadcast
    licenses to televisions, in particular 'A1+'" (item 11 iii). Firstly, the
    comments of the Partnership stress, the mere giving additional arguments is
    not a guarantee for preventing arbitrary decisions. This requires other
    methods of open and public discussion, too, also involvement of NGO
    representatives and experts into the process of bid evaluation, as allowed
    by Article 26 of the RA Law "Statutes of the National Commission on
    Television and Radio". Such a proposal was made by a number of NGOs to the
    NCTR Chairman during the last broadcast licensing competition, however, it
    was rejected. Secondly, the comments of the Initiative say, the amendments
    to the broadcast law do not stipulate changes in the NCTR composition: they
    only refer to competitive appointment to vacancies. And, finally, the
    comments note, the corapporteurs link the creation of fair competition
    conditions with the changes in the NCTR composition, whereas attention
    should be drawn to its formation procedure which "does not ensure the
    independence of the body and makes it a tool in the hand of the executive".

    When quoting negative examples, the comments of the Partnership note, the
    report of the Monitoring Committee has a number of mistakes. Thus, item 30
    of the report says: "The situation regarding media still gives cause for
    concern. Newspapers are regularly found guilty in court and ordered to pay
    heavy fines for publishing defamatory articles about prominent figures in or
    close to the government." Yerevan Press Club and the Committee to Protect
    Freedom of Expression monitor the media situation, also the media-related
    litigations, and during the past year, fortunately, nothing has been
    recorded, the Initiative writes in its comments.

    Among the most vivid examples of information lack, in the opinion of the
    Partnership, was the mentioning of the corapporteurs that "Kentron" TV
    company stopped broadcasting and was replaced by "Aravot" TV company. In
    reality, the comments explain, "Kentron" did not stop its activities, it
    only changed the air name. As the corapporteurs note, "Yerkir Media" TV
    company that got a broadcast license is managed by Armenian Diaspora. In the
    Partnership's comments this statement is characterized as "irresponsible".

    MDI SEMINAR: NGOs AND MEDIA

    On October 4-6 in Yerevan a training seminar for non-governmental
    organizations representing various society groups and minorities and for
    journalists of Armenia was held. The training on NGO relations with media
    was organized by the London-based Media Diversity Institute under "Minority
    Empowerment and Media Development in South Caucasus" project, implemented
    with the financial assistance of the European Union and the Ministry of
    Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The practical activation of relations of
    the "third sector" and the "fourth estate" were discussed in the mode of
    interactive communication, moderated by Tim Grout-Smith and Lily Poberezhska
    ("Media Player International" consultancy partnership, UK) and Elina
    Poghosbekian (Yerevan Press Club).

    YSU JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT IS FIVE YEARS OLD

    On October 1 the Journalism Department of the Yerevan State University
    celebrated the fifth anniversary since it was founded. The Journalism
    Department grew out of the journalism major groups of the YSU Philological
    Department. The greeting address of the Yerevan Press Club noted the
    progress of the study process, the availability of technical facilities and
    wished the school success, conscientious students and open-minded graduates.


    When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
    Press Club is required.

    You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
    [email protected]

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    Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
    ____________________________________________
    Yerevan Press Club
    9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
    375007, Yerevan, Armenia
    Tel.: (+ 374 1) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
    Fax: (+374 1) 53 56 61
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Web Site: www.ypc.am
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