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YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 9-15, 2011
HIGHLIGHTS:
"E-CLUB" CYCLE: ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IN INTERNET
DISCUSSIONS ON AMENDMENTS TO BROADCAST LAW HELD AT SPECIALIZED PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE
NEWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN SIMPLIFIES THE ACCESS OF JOURNALISTS TO
THE DEPUTIES
PHOTOJOURNALIST GAGIK SHAMSHIAN ASSAULTED WHILE SHOOTING A CAR ACCIDENT
FOI CENTER PRESENTED ITS STUDY
"E-CLUB" CYCLE: ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IN INTERNET
On December 13 another program from "E-Club" weekly cycle went on the online
broadcast of "A1+" TV company (www.a1plus.am). The "E-Club" is produced by
Yerevan Press Club in cooperation with "A1+" TV company under "Alternative
Resources in Media" project, supported by USAID.
The program was dealing with the presence of Armenian language in the
Internet: opportunities for using Armenian fonts, network sources, programs
in Armenian, etc. The news bloc of "E-Club" particularly told how Pope
Benedict XVI set fire the Christmas tree in the Italian city of Gubbio with
a Sony Tablet S right from Vatican. According to another information, Net
Index named Vilnius, Lithuania, as the city with the most high speed
Internet in the world. The ratings of online sources and headlines of last
week were presented by writer and blogger Dorian. The websites' top list was
headed by Google Reader, while the most popular news was the intensifying
tensions in the US-Iran relations.
The next "E-Club" will be aired on "A1+" on Tuesday, December 20 at 15.50
(rerun - on Thursday, December 22 at 18.20).
DISCUSSIONS ON AMENDMENTS TO BROADCAST LAW HELD AT SPECIALIZED PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE
On December 15 discussions on the amendments to RA Law "On Television and
Radio" were held at the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Science,
Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The working meeting was attended by
representatives of state bodies, international organizations, journalistic
associations, including Yerevan Press Club and Internews Media Support
public organization.
As it has been reported, the draft law "On Introducing Amendments and
Supplements to RA Law 'On Television and Radio'" was developed by the
working group on reforming the broadcast legislation, regulating the process
of switching from analogue to digital broadcast in Armenia, formed by the RA
Human Rights Defender in 2010. On May 31, 2011 the document was submitted to
the parliament, and the working group stopped its activities. On June 15 the
Heads of the three media NGO-members of the group, Nouneh Sarkissian,
Managing Director of Internews, YPC President Boris Navasardian and Arzuman
Harutiunian, President of Audio-Visual Reporters Association, released a
statement. The latter noted that the version of the draft, presented to the
parliament, is imperfect, and the shutdown of the WG activities is
premature: "The draft contains a number of important clauses that were not
properly addressed and still require a thorough discussion and analysis.
Suggestions and recommendations provided by the experts, including the
feedback from the Council of Europe and OSCE, were not considered in full
and completely. Such a situation questions the initial key objective of our
activities, which is to contribute to the adoption of a perfectly worked out
law by the RA National Assembly." The statement authors emphasized that they
will continue their activities over the improvement of the draft and they
would submit it to the RA National Assembly in a separate package. Given
this fact, the Heads of the three journalistic organizations requested the
parliamentary specialized Committee to postpone any possible discussion on
the draft (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, June 10-16, 2011).
On November 4 the revised amendments to the broadcast legislation were
presented to the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture,
Youth and Sport.
At the meeting of December 15 the Committee Chairman Artak Davtian stressed
that the suggestions voiced during the discussion will be taken into
account, and in five business days the draft law will be put into
circulation at the National Assembly.
NEWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN SIMPLIFIES THE ACCESS OF JOURNALISTS TO
THE DEPUTIES
On December 9 upon the decision of the newly elected Speaker of Armenian
parliament Samvel Nikoyan, the Order of Journalists' Accreditation in RA
National Assembly was modified. Specifically, the Clause 21 was amended:
from now on the journalists accredited in the parliament are again permitted
to visit the NA on workdays, as well as the events held on the weekends,
which are notified by the RA NA Department on Public Relations and Media.
Earlier, the Order, approved on August 21, 2009 by the then-Chairman Hovik
Abrahamian, stipulated the access of accredited journalists to National
Assembly only during the sessions of the parliament and the Standing
Committees, briefings, press conferences, parliament hearings, as well as
other events announced by the NA press service.
Likewise, the restriction that significantly curtailed the possibility of
covering the activities of the MPs, was abrogated. At the same time, the
Order still contains provisions that concern the media community,
particularly on the conditions of accreditation and its anticipatory
suspension, the responsibilities of journalists (see details in YPC Weekly
Newsletter, September 3-10, 2009).
PHOTOJOURNALIST GAGIK SHAMSHIAN ASSAULTED WHILE SHOOTING A CAR ACCIDENT
On December 8, at about 21.30 in one of the highway tunnels of downtown
Yerevan, where a major accident hade happened, photojournalist Gagik
Shamshian was attacked. According to Gagik Shamshian, noticing that he is
shooting the site, three young men, who were in one of the crashed cars,
assaulted and swore at him, trying to take away the photocamera. As
Shamshian emphasized, he managed to keep the camera and even shoot the
assaulters and the car number. The skirmish was over after the intervention
of the police, who had arrived to the site.
As the communique of the RA Police, stored on www.police.am later on
December 8, reported, the young men were detained and conveyed to police.
The men "have displayed outmost disrespect to the citizens around, have
disturbed the public order for over 15 minutes, cursed, gave blows and
caused physical injuries to the photojournalist Gagik Shamshian, who was
carrying out his professional duties", the RA Police clarified.
As Gagik Shamshian informed YPC Kentron Police Department of Yerevan has
instituted criminal proceedings upon the case on Articles 164 ("Impeding
legitimate professional activities of a journalist") and 258 ("Public
disorder") of RA Criminal Code.
FOI CENTER PRESENTED ITS STUDY
On December 14 in at "Hayeli" Club of Yerevan the Freedom of Information
Center released the results of the 2011 monitoring "Freedom of Information
in the Republic of Armenia". The study was administered by FOI Center under
the project supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and USAID. The brochure
(in Armenian and English) presented the analysis of 250 inquires, made in
May-June 2011 to 50 information holders - state structures, local
self-government bodies and organizations of public importance.
Find the results on the monitoring on FOI website: www.foi.am.
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]
Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.ypc.am
DECEMBER 9-15, 2011
HIGHLIGHTS:
"E-CLUB" CYCLE: ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IN INTERNET
DISCUSSIONS ON AMENDMENTS TO BROADCAST LAW HELD AT SPECIALIZED PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE
NEWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN SIMPLIFIES THE ACCESS OF JOURNALISTS TO
THE DEPUTIES
PHOTOJOURNALIST GAGIK SHAMSHIAN ASSAULTED WHILE SHOOTING A CAR ACCIDENT
FOI CENTER PRESENTED ITS STUDY
"E-CLUB" CYCLE: ARMENIAN LANGUAGE IN INTERNET
On December 13 another program from "E-Club" weekly cycle went on the online
broadcast of "A1+" TV company (www.a1plus.am). The "E-Club" is produced by
Yerevan Press Club in cooperation with "A1+" TV company under "Alternative
Resources in Media" project, supported by USAID.
The program was dealing with the presence of Armenian language in the
Internet: opportunities for using Armenian fonts, network sources, programs
in Armenian, etc. The news bloc of "E-Club" particularly told how Pope
Benedict XVI set fire the Christmas tree in the Italian city of Gubbio with
a Sony Tablet S right from Vatican. According to another information, Net
Index named Vilnius, Lithuania, as the city with the most high speed
Internet in the world. The ratings of online sources and headlines of last
week were presented by writer and blogger Dorian. The websites' top list was
headed by Google Reader, while the most popular news was the intensifying
tensions in the US-Iran relations.
The next "E-Club" will be aired on "A1+" on Tuesday, December 20 at 15.50
(rerun - on Thursday, December 22 at 18.20).
DISCUSSIONS ON AMENDMENTS TO BROADCAST LAW HELD AT SPECIALIZED PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEE
On December 15 discussions on the amendments to RA Law "On Television and
Radio" were held at the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Science,
Education, Culture, Youth and Sport. The working meeting was attended by
representatives of state bodies, international organizations, journalistic
associations, including Yerevan Press Club and Internews Media Support
public organization.
As it has been reported, the draft law "On Introducing Amendments and
Supplements to RA Law 'On Television and Radio'" was developed by the
working group on reforming the broadcast legislation, regulating the process
of switching from analogue to digital broadcast in Armenia, formed by the RA
Human Rights Defender in 2010. On May 31, 2011 the document was submitted to
the parliament, and the working group stopped its activities. On June 15 the
Heads of the three media NGO-members of the group, Nouneh Sarkissian,
Managing Director of Internews, YPC President Boris Navasardian and Arzuman
Harutiunian, President of Audio-Visual Reporters Association, released a
statement. The latter noted that the version of the draft, presented to the
parliament, is imperfect, and the shutdown of the WG activities is
premature: "The draft contains a number of important clauses that were not
properly addressed and still require a thorough discussion and analysis.
Suggestions and recommendations provided by the experts, including the
feedback from the Council of Europe and OSCE, were not considered in full
and completely. Such a situation questions the initial key objective of our
activities, which is to contribute to the adoption of a perfectly worked out
law by the RA National Assembly." The statement authors emphasized that they
will continue their activities over the improvement of the draft and they
would submit it to the RA National Assembly in a separate package. Given
this fact, the Heads of the three journalistic organizations requested the
parliamentary specialized Committee to postpone any possible discussion on
the draft (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, June 10-16, 2011).
On November 4 the revised amendments to the broadcast legislation were
presented to the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture,
Youth and Sport.
At the meeting of December 15 the Committee Chairman Artak Davtian stressed
that the suggestions voiced during the discussion will be taken into
account, and in five business days the draft law will be put into
circulation at the National Assembly.
NEWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY CHAIRMAN SIMPLIFIES THE ACCESS OF JOURNALISTS TO
THE DEPUTIES
On December 9 upon the decision of the newly elected Speaker of Armenian
parliament Samvel Nikoyan, the Order of Journalists' Accreditation in RA
National Assembly was modified. Specifically, the Clause 21 was amended:
from now on the journalists accredited in the parliament are again permitted
to visit the NA on workdays, as well as the events held on the weekends,
which are notified by the RA NA Department on Public Relations and Media.
Earlier, the Order, approved on August 21, 2009 by the then-Chairman Hovik
Abrahamian, stipulated the access of accredited journalists to National
Assembly only during the sessions of the parliament and the Standing
Committees, briefings, press conferences, parliament hearings, as well as
other events announced by the NA press service.
Likewise, the restriction that significantly curtailed the possibility of
covering the activities of the MPs, was abrogated. At the same time, the
Order still contains provisions that concern the media community,
particularly on the conditions of accreditation and its anticipatory
suspension, the responsibilities of journalists (see details in YPC Weekly
Newsletter, September 3-10, 2009).
PHOTOJOURNALIST GAGIK SHAMSHIAN ASSAULTED WHILE SHOOTING A CAR ACCIDENT
On December 8, at about 21.30 in one of the highway tunnels of downtown
Yerevan, where a major accident hade happened, photojournalist Gagik
Shamshian was attacked. According to Gagik Shamshian, noticing that he is
shooting the site, three young men, who were in one of the crashed cars,
assaulted and swore at him, trying to take away the photocamera. As
Shamshian emphasized, he managed to keep the camera and even shoot the
assaulters and the car number. The skirmish was over after the intervention
of the police, who had arrived to the site.
As the communique of the RA Police, stored on www.police.am later on
December 8, reported, the young men were detained and conveyed to police.
The men "have displayed outmost disrespect to the citizens around, have
disturbed the public order for over 15 minutes, cursed, gave blows and
caused physical injuries to the photojournalist Gagik Shamshian, who was
carrying out his professional duties", the RA Police clarified.
As Gagik Shamshian informed YPC Kentron Police Department of Yerevan has
instituted criminal proceedings upon the case on Articles 164 ("Impeding
legitimate professional activities of a journalist") and 258 ("Public
disorder") of RA Criminal Code.
FOI CENTER PRESENTED ITS STUDY
On December 14 in at "Hayeli" Club of Yerevan the Freedom of Information
Center released the results of the 2011 monitoring "Freedom of Information
in the Republic of Armenia". The study was administered by FOI Center under
the project supported by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and USAID. The brochure
(in Armenian and English) presented the analysis of 250 inquires, made in
May-June 2011 to 50 information holders - state structures, local
self-government bodies and organizations of public importance.
Find the results on the monitoring on FOI website: www.foi.am.
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]
Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.ypc.am