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MEDIA PROFESSIONAL SEES DANGERS OF RESTRICTIONS ON PRESS FREEDOM IN ARMENIA
http://www.armenianow.com/society/49305/armenia_freedom_speech_boris_navasardyan_press_clu b
SOCIETY | 18.10.13 | 11:24
Photolure
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Head of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan fears that
restrictions on freedom of speech will become a "more and more serious
challenge" in Armenia in the time to come.
Navasardyan, who is also the national coordinator of the Eastern
Partnership Civil Platform, links these concerns to the "lowered
interest" of Armenia in deepening relations with the West, in
particular with the European Union.
Now we have found ourselves in a little bit different situation [he
refers to the choice of the Russian-led Customs Union over European
integration] and it can be predicted that maybe not that fast, not in a
very active and cruel manner, but restrictions on freedom of expression
will grow to become a more and more serious challenge in Armenia and
in that case the unwillingness of individual journalists to work in
that situation, under such conditions will be understandable to me,"
said Navasardyan.
The Yerevan Press Club's president says the information field went
through great disappointment after the elections.
"In fact, our well-known concern that the fairly high quality of
election coverage was not so much a reflection of the freedom of
speech as a matter of clear instructions from the government has been
justified. Though, it is not bad either, but the instruction to be
free should be for as long a period as possible, so that it becomes
a customary thing for the media. Unfortunately, this period was too
short for the tradition of being free to stay with some of our media
representatives," says Navasardyan.
International observers who monitored the most recent elections in
Armenia positively evaluated the election campaign coverage, stressing
that all the candidates and political parties had an equal chance of
being covered.
Navasardyan emphasizes that only in the election period when Armenia
was in the center of attention of the international community and,
in fact, only due to the influence of external factors, the country
managed to have a more or less positive period in terms of press
freedom.
Editor-in-chief of Hetq.am Edik Baghdasaryan, known for his
journalistic investigations, recently raised the issue of the
distortion of the media environment and authorities' taking media
under their immediate control. He expressed the opinion that "Armenia's
authorities have managed to destroy the media field where journalists
no longer are able to find their place and find themselves in an
extremely hopeless condition, as the entire media field, and the
journalistic profession, are distorted."
"The media have become the most controlled field in Armenia. Control
over materials, subjects, organization of their publication have
become precise. The problem is that traditional sources of information
no longer work. There is no longer a need to conduct journalistic
investigations (and it often takes months), to find your own sources
of information to present one issue or another comprehensively. Now
sources of information have their own media and are able to spread
the information at once framing it the way that suits them most. Now
every official and department have their media," Baghdasaryan said
to Media.am.
Meanwhile, government representatives in Armenia have stressed on
various occasions that freedom of the press and expression has not
been subjected to pressure during Serzh Sargsyan's presidency. And
Sargsyan himself several times in his public speeches described it
as one of the greatest achievements of his leadership.
From: Baghdasarian
http://www.armenianow.com/society/49305/armenia_freedom_speech_boris_navasardyan_press_clu b
SOCIETY | 18.10.13 | 11:24
Photolure
By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Head of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan fears that
restrictions on freedom of speech will become a "more and more serious
challenge" in Armenia in the time to come.
Navasardyan, who is also the national coordinator of the Eastern
Partnership Civil Platform, links these concerns to the "lowered
interest" of Armenia in deepening relations with the West, in
particular with the European Union.
Now we have found ourselves in a little bit different situation [he
refers to the choice of the Russian-led Customs Union over European
integration] and it can be predicted that maybe not that fast, not in a
very active and cruel manner, but restrictions on freedom of expression
will grow to become a more and more serious challenge in Armenia and
in that case the unwillingness of individual journalists to work in
that situation, under such conditions will be understandable to me,"
said Navasardyan.
The Yerevan Press Club's president says the information field went
through great disappointment after the elections.
"In fact, our well-known concern that the fairly high quality of
election coverage was not so much a reflection of the freedom of
speech as a matter of clear instructions from the government has been
justified. Though, it is not bad either, but the instruction to be
free should be for as long a period as possible, so that it becomes
a customary thing for the media. Unfortunately, this period was too
short for the tradition of being free to stay with some of our media
representatives," says Navasardyan.
International observers who monitored the most recent elections in
Armenia positively evaluated the election campaign coverage, stressing
that all the candidates and political parties had an equal chance of
being covered.
Navasardyan emphasizes that only in the election period when Armenia
was in the center of attention of the international community and,
in fact, only due to the influence of external factors, the country
managed to have a more or less positive period in terms of press
freedom.
Editor-in-chief of Hetq.am Edik Baghdasaryan, known for his
journalistic investigations, recently raised the issue of the
distortion of the media environment and authorities' taking media
under their immediate control. He expressed the opinion that "Armenia's
authorities have managed to destroy the media field where journalists
no longer are able to find their place and find themselves in an
extremely hopeless condition, as the entire media field, and the
journalistic profession, are distorted."
"The media have become the most controlled field in Armenia. Control
over materials, subjects, organization of their publication have
become precise. The problem is that traditional sources of information
no longer work. There is no longer a need to conduct journalistic
investigations (and it often takes months), to find your own sources
of information to present one issue or another comprehensively. Now
sources of information have their own media and are able to spread
the information at once framing it the way that suits them most. Now
every official and department have their media," Baghdasaryan said
to Media.am.
Meanwhile, government representatives in Armenia have stressed on
various occasions that freedom of the press and expression has not
been subjected to pressure during Serzh Sargsyan's presidency. And
Sargsyan himself several times in his public speeches described it
as one of the greatest achievements of his leadership.
From: Baghdasarian