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YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 12-19, 2012
HIGHLIGHTS:
CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF MEDIA ETHICS OBSERVATORY
"ASPAREZ" FIXED VIOLATIONS ON THE NEW YEAR TV AIR OF PUBLIC BROADCASTER
PLAINTIFF ABANDONS FINANCIAL CLAIMS VERSUS "HETQ" CORRESPONDENT
ADVOCATE SUGGESTS THE NEWSPAPER PAY COMPENSATION BY INSTALLMENT
"ARAVOT" FOUNDER DENIED TO PARTICIPATE AS A THIRD PARTY IN HEARINGS ON
VILLAGE ELDER'S SUITS
CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF MEDIA ETHICS OBSERVATORY
On December 24, 2011 at the meeting of the representatives of media and
journalistic associations, supporting the YPC initiative on establishing a
self-regulation system in Armenia, the new composition of the Media Ethics
Observatory (MEO) was elected. The meeting was convened within the seminar
"The Current State and Perspectives of Media Self-Regulation in Armenia",
held on December 23-25, 2011 in Aghveran (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
December 16-22, 2011).
At the meeting it was resolved to expand the composition of MEO up to 14
members (earlier they made 7). At the same time, seven of the 14 members
will attend a MEO session by a rotation principle (corresponding changes are
made to the MEO Regulations). As members of Media Ethics Observatory were
elected: Aram Abrahamian (Chief Editor of "Aravot" daily), Gegham
Baghdasarian (Chief Editor of "Analyticon" journal), Levon Barseghian (Board
Chairman of "Asparez" Journalists Club of Gyumri), Mesrop Harutyunian (media
expert), Ara Ghazarian (lawyer), Gegham Manukian (Director of the News and
Current Affairs Programs of "Yerkir Media" TV company), Ashot Melikian
(Chairman of Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression), Emmanuil Mkrtchian
(General Director of "ArmInfo" news agency), Mesrop Movsesian (Director of
"A1+" TV company), Gnel Nalbandian (Chief Editor of "ArmNews" TV company),
Boris Navasardian (President of Yerevan Press Club), Nouneh Sarkissian
(Managing Director of Internews Media Support NGO), Olga Safarian (lawyer),
Gegham Vardanian (producer of www.media.am).
As it has been reported, Media Ethics Observatory was formed on March 10,
2007 by heads of Armenian media, who supported the YPC initiative and signed
the Code of Conduct of Media Representatives and its addendum, the
Declaration on Election and Referendum Coverage Principles (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, March 9-15, 2007). The MEO mission consists in considering the
complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct and
rendering judgments on them. Currently the Code of Conduct and the
Declaration are signed by 45 entities, representing 48 media; the initiative
is supported by 9 journalistic associations.
Detailed information on the MEO is available at www.ypc.am in
"Self-Regulation" section.
"ASPAREZ" FIXED VIOLATIONS ON THE NEW YEAR TV AIR OF PUBLIC BROADCASTER
On January 18, 2012 Levon Barseghian, the Board Chairman of "Asparez"
Journalists Club of Gyumri, sent a complaint to Grigor Amalian, Chairman of
the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR), notifying about the
excess of commercial advertising on the New Year air of the First Channel of
the Public Television of Armenia. The reason for addressing NCTR was the
monitoring results of the PTA First Channel, administered by "Asparez" on
December 30-31, 2011 and January 1-2, 2012. Listing the violations revealed
and attaching the tables on the study's data, the Head of "Asparez"
requested NCTR considering the presented materials and informing about the
measures taken.
As it has been reported, during the previous New Year holidays (December 31,
2010 and January 1, 2011) "Asparez" had also monitored the air of PTA First
Channel, had registered similar violations of the permissible legislative
quota of advertising and had written to NCTR about this. In his reply,
Grigor Amalian noted that he had addressed the Council of the Public
Television and Radio company for explanations, and given their validity, he
re-addressed the explanations to "Asparez" (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
February 18-24, 2011).
PLAINTIFF ABANDONS FINANCIAL CLAIMS VERSUS "HETQ" CORRESPONDENT
On January 13, 2012 Vanadzor court of general jurisdiction of Lori region
continued hearing the suit of Vano Eghiazarian, Elder of Lernapat village,
versus Adrineh Torosian, Vanadzor correspondent of "Hetq" online publication
("Hetq" is involved in the case as a third party). As it has been reported,
the Village Elder contested the piece by Adrineh Torosian, "The Word "Graze"
in Address of Village Elder Worth 1 Mln" (published in "Hetq" on August 23,
2011), demanding to refute the information discrediting him, bring apologies
and compensate the moral damage of 1 million AMD (about $ 2,600), caused by
libel. The trial on the case started on November 14, 2011 (see details in
YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 11-17, 2011).
At the session of January 13 the plaintiff virtually abandoned his financial
claims versus the respondent: hence, he demands only 1 Luma (the smallest
Armenian currency) as compensation for moral damage, instead of 1 million
AMD.
The next court hearing will take place on February 14.
ADVOCATE SUGGESTS THE NEWSPAPER PAY COMPENSATION BY INSTALLMENT
On January 13, 2012 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
administrative districts of Yerevan started hearing the suit of advocate
Artur Grigorian versus "Hraparak" daily founder, "Hraparak Oratert" LLC. As
it has been reported, the reason for the suit became the readers' comments
to "Hraparak" article, "Citizens, Are They Victims of Disloyal Advocates?",
published on August 10, 2011 and stored on www.hraparak.am. In the readers'
comments Artur Grigorian had counted six wordings that discredited his honor
and dignity, and evaluated the moral damage for each of them by 3 million
AMD. Thus, the overall amount of financial claims to the newspaper makes 18
mln AMD (about $ 47,000). The suit was taken into consideration on October
20, 2011; on November 8, 2011 an arrest was put on the "Hraparak" funds - to
secure the suit (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 4-10, 2011).
At the session of January 13 Artur Grigorian presented a supplement to the
suit in which he suggested the plaintiff pay him the compensation by equal
installments within several years in order not to undermine the financial
situation of the plaintiff.
The next court session will be on February 24.
"ARAVOT" FOUNDER DENIED TO PARTICIPATE AS A THIRD PARTY IN HEARINGS ON
VILLAGE ELDER'S SUITS
On January 10, 2012 founder of "Aravot" daily, "Aravot Oratert" LLC, sent a
letter to court of general jurisdiction of Lori region informing that it
refuses to participate as a third party in the hearings on the suits of Vano
Eghiazarian, Elder of Lernapat village. This mainly concerns the two suits
on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation submitted by the
Elder versus his villagers Boris Ashrafian and Fahrad Voskanian in which the
"Aravot" founder appears as a third party. On August 19, 2011 "Aravot"
issued a piece "Who Slanders Whom?", which reported about the August 18
protest action against the Elder, held by Lernapat villagers in Yerevan in
front of the RA Government. The piece also cited the villagers' critical
expressions about their Elder, including the ones of Boris Ashrafian and
Fahrad Voskanian.
Both suits were taken into consideration by court of general jurisdiction of
Lori region, but assigned to different judges. Meanwhile, as the statement
of "Aravot" stresses, the daily has only one evidence - the record of the
interviews of the daily correspondent with the Village Elder, and with three
of his villagers during the protest action in front of the RA Government.
However, this circumstance was not taken into consideration by the court,
which had assigned the suits to different judges. Besides, the founder of
"Aravot" noted that as of today the Village Elder has not specified the
claims of the lawsuits.
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
JANUARY 12-19, 2012
HIGHLIGHTS:
CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF MEDIA ETHICS OBSERVATORY
"ASPAREZ" FIXED VIOLATIONS ON THE NEW YEAR TV AIR OF PUBLIC BROADCASTER
PLAINTIFF ABANDONS FINANCIAL CLAIMS VERSUS "HETQ" CORRESPONDENT
ADVOCATE SUGGESTS THE NEWSPAPER PAY COMPENSATION BY INSTALLMENT
"ARAVOT" FOUNDER DENIED TO PARTICIPATE AS A THIRD PARTY IN HEARINGS ON
VILLAGE ELDER'S SUITS
CHANGES IN THE COMPOSITION OF MEDIA ETHICS OBSERVATORY
On December 24, 2011 at the meeting of the representatives of media and
journalistic associations, supporting the YPC initiative on establishing a
self-regulation system in Armenia, the new composition of the Media Ethics
Observatory (MEO) was elected. The meeting was convened within the seminar
"The Current State and Perspectives of Media Self-Regulation in Armenia",
held on December 23-25, 2011 in Aghveran (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
December 16-22, 2011).
At the meeting it was resolved to expand the composition of MEO up to 14
members (earlier they made 7). At the same time, seven of the 14 members
will attend a MEO session by a rotation principle (corresponding changes are
made to the MEO Regulations). As members of Media Ethics Observatory were
elected: Aram Abrahamian (Chief Editor of "Aravot" daily), Gegham
Baghdasarian (Chief Editor of "Analyticon" journal), Levon Barseghian (Board
Chairman of "Asparez" Journalists Club of Gyumri), Mesrop Harutyunian (media
expert), Ara Ghazarian (lawyer), Gegham Manukian (Director of the News and
Current Affairs Programs of "Yerkir Media" TV company), Ashot Melikian
(Chairman of Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression), Emmanuil Mkrtchian
(General Director of "ArmInfo" news agency), Mesrop Movsesian (Director of
"A1+" TV company), Gnel Nalbandian (Chief Editor of "ArmNews" TV company),
Boris Navasardian (President of Yerevan Press Club), Nouneh Sarkissian
(Managing Director of Internews Media Support NGO), Olga Safarian (lawyer),
Gegham Vardanian (producer of www.media.am).
As it has been reported, Media Ethics Observatory was formed on March 10,
2007 by heads of Armenian media, who supported the YPC initiative and signed
the Code of Conduct of Media Representatives and its addendum, the
Declaration on Election and Referendum Coverage Principles (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, March 9-15, 2007). The MEO mission consists in considering the
complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct and
rendering judgments on them. Currently the Code of Conduct and the
Declaration are signed by 45 entities, representing 48 media; the initiative
is supported by 9 journalistic associations.
Detailed information on the MEO is available at www.ypc.am in
"Self-Regulation" section.
"ASPAREZ" FIXED VIOLATIONS ON THE NEW YEAR TV AIR OF PUBLIC BROADCASTER
On January 18, 2012 Levon Barseghian, the Board Chairman of "Asparez"
Journalists Club of Gyumri, sent a complaint to Grigor Amalian, Chairman of
the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR), notifying about the
excess of commercial advertising on the New Year air of the First Channel of
the Public Television of Armenia. The reason for addressing NCTR was the
monitoring results of the PTA First Channel, administered by "Asparez" on
December 30-31, 2011 and January 1-2, 2012. Listing the violations revealed
and attaching the tables on the study's data, the Head of "Asparez"
requested NCTR considering the presented materials and informing about the
measures taken.
As it has been reported, during the previous New Year holidays (December 31,
2010 and January 1, 2011) "Asparez" had also monitored the air of PTA First
Channel, had registered similar violations of the permissible legislative
quota of advertising and had written to NCTR about this. In his reply,
Grigor Amalian noted that he had addressed the Council of the Public
Television and Radio company for explanations, and given their validity, he
re-addressed the explanations to "Asparez" (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
February 18-24, 2011).
PLAINTIFF ABANDONS FINANCIAL CLAIMS VERSUS "HETQ" CORRESPONDENT
On January 13, 2012 Vanadzor court of general jurisdiction of Lori region
continued hearing the suit of Vano Eghiazarian, Elder of Lernapat village,
versus Adrineh Torosian, Vanadzor correspondent of "Hetq" online publication
("Hetq" is involved in the case as a third party). As it has been reported,
the Village Elder contested the piece by Adrineh Torosian, "The Word "Graze"
in Address of Village Elder Worth 1 Mln" (published in "Hetq" on August 23,
2011), demanding to refute the information discrediting him, bring apologies
and compensate the moral damage of 1 million AMD (about $ 2,600), caused by
libel. The trial on the case started on November 14, 2011 (see details in
YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 11-17, 2011).
At the session of January 13 the plaintiff virtually abandoned his financial
claims versus the respondent: hence, he demands only 1 Luma (the smallest
Armenian currency) as compensation for moral damage, instead of 1 million
AMD.
The next court hearing will take place on February 14.
ADVOCATE SUGGESTS THE NEWSPAPER PAY COMPENSATION BY INSTALLMENT
On January 13, 2012 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
administrative districts of Yerevan started hearing the suit of advocate
Artur Grigorian versus "Hraparak" daily founder, "Hraparak Oratert" LLC. As
it has been reported, the reason for the suit became the readers' comments
to "Hraparak" article, "Citizens, Are They Victims of Disloyal Advocates?",
published on August 10, 2011 and stored on www.hraparak.am. In the readers'
comments Artur Grigorian had counted six wordings that discredited his honor
and dignity, and evaluated the moral damage for each of them by 3 million
AMD. Thus, the overall amount of financial claims to the newspaper makes 18
mln AMD (about $ 47,000). The suit was taken into consideration on October
20, 2011; on November 8, 2011 an arrest was put on the "Hraparak" funds - to
secure the suit (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 4-10, 2011).
At the session of January 13 Artur Grigorian presented a supplement to the
suit in which he suggested the plaintiff pay him the compensation by equal
installments within several years in order not to undermine the financial
situation of the plaintiff.
The next court session will be on February 24.
"ARAVOT" FOUNDER DENIED TO PARTICIPATE AS A THIRD PARTY IN HEARINGS ON
VILLAGE ELDER'S SUITS
On January 10, 2012 founder of "Aravot" daily, "Aravot Oratert" LLC, sent a
letter to court of general jurisdiction of Lori region informing that it
refuses to participate as a third party in the hearings on the suits of Vano
Eghiazarian, Elder of Lernapat village. This mainly concerns the two suits
on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation submitted by the
Elder versus his villagers Boris Ashrafian and Fahrad Voskanian in which the
"Aravot" founder appears as a third party. On August 19, 2011 "Aravot"
issued a piece "Who Slanders Whom?", which reported about the August 18
protest action against the Elder, held by Lernapat villagers in Yerevan in
front of the RA Government. The piece also cited the villagers' critical
expressions about their Elder, including the ones of Boris Ashrafian and
Fahrad Voskanian.
Both suits were taken into consideration by court of general jurisdiction of
Lori region, but assigned to different judges. Meanwhile, as the statement
of "Aravot" stresses, the daily has only one evidence - the record of the
interviews of the daily correspondent with the Village Elder, and with three
of his villagers during the protest action in front of the RA Government.
However, this circumstance was not taken into consideration by the court,
which had assigned the suits to different judges. Besides, the founder of
"Aravot" noted that as of today the Village Elder has not specified the
claims of the lawsuits.
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