Most reporters working for local media outlets in Armenia covering the ongoing fighting along the Artsakh Azerbaijan border do not have life insurance.

Those working for two international media outlets in Yerevan - RFE / RL and Sputnik Armenia – do.

On October 1, both foreign and Armenian media representatives were injured in the shelling of the Artsakh city of Martouni.

Gnel Nalbandyan, the editor-in-chief of the Zham (Hour) news program on Armenia TV, says this problem has existed for a long time.

"To this day, those who go to the frontline are as insecure in terms of insurance as they were in the 1990s, when journalists went to the front without thinking about what would happen to them, whether they would be able to cover their hospital expenses or not,” Nalbandyan told Hetq.

He says that news agencies must think about creating an insurance system with special conditions, to sign contracts with the journalists who are sent to the front.

A journalist going to the front should know that in the event of damage to his life or health, the insurance company will pay for his hospital expenses or reimburse his relatives. Before going to the front, journalists must be trained in how to cover the war.

Zham news agency cameraman Aram Grigoryan was wounded in the shelling of the town of Martouni on October 1, 2010.

Nalbandyan says the TV company will cover the hospital expenses of its employee, but the problem should be considered across the sector.

24news.am journalist Sevak Vardumyan was also injured in Martouni. News site editor-in-chief Narek Galstyan says that, unfortunately, the offering life insurance to reporters hasn’t taken off in Armenia.

Nuneh Sargsyan, Executive Director of the Center for Media Initiatives, thinks that media outlets and insurance companies must jointly draft insurance plans for war correspondents.

 "I think it would be right to try to create a fund where money will be raised for that very purpose," says Sargsyan, who confesses that such work will take a long time.

Boris Navasardyan, President of the Yerevan Press Club says the life insurance issue needs immediate resolution.

"A country that regularly finds itself in a state of war must have a system to insure the life and health of journalists. If the relevant insurance companies do not solve this problem, then state intervention is needed," says Navasardyan.

He says the government is obligated to promote the formation of such a system, and, if necessary, the state should financially investment in it.

Readers should also be aware that, in general, insurance companies in Armenia do not provide individual life insurance policies.