At a cabinet session held on April 25th, ROA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan announced that the government would be modifying its working principles regarding the mass media outlets. The PM declared, “In order that we have responsible press resources we first and foremost must have responsible government authorities.” The government has assumed the responsibility of examining all publications that have a social content.

At the same time the PM noted that those press outlets that publish slander and falsehoods would also be held accountable. That day the PM issued his first directive instructing Armen Gevorgyan, Deputy PM and Minister of Territorial Administration, to look into the circumstances surrounding the article entitled “Litska’s New Feat of Bravery” that appeared in the April 28, 2008 issue of the daily newspaper Aravot. According to the article, the Regional Governor of Syunik Marz, Suren Khachatryan (aka Litska) beat-up and broke the chin of a 12 year-old son of a bookstore worker because the boy had gotten into an argument with his sons.

Businessman Yuri Chilingaryan states that, “I really appreciated the decision of the PM. I have been waiting for a long time for the government to take a look at the type of articles being published in the press. If they are able to put this decision into practice over the long haul the mass media will become more trustworthy and responsible. The businessman notes that he’s always in need of accurate information and that he mostly trusts the news coverage of the mass media but with certain reservations. “I don’t find it acceptable when for instance Public TV tries to impose its opinions on the audience instead of stating the facts. It seems to me that people don’t really watch the official programs with much interest or relish.”

Mr. Chilingaryan adds that, “I would advise them to take a cue from the opposition press. Despite the fact that things are sometimes exaggerated, the questioning is sharp and to the point.”

Most of the people we talked to specifically referred to the workings of Public TV when asked the question, “Do you trust the news reportage of the mass media?” One of the reporters from that station, who we interviewed and who wished to remain anonymous, stated that the role of Haylur (a Public TV news program) is to prove the improvable. 

“Now, the TV station has been instructed to be a bit freer. But this won’t be freedom as much as its imitation. Since there is still no real threat, Public TV will open its airwaves to say members of the Heritage Faction and later on, if necessary, it will broadcast ‘photos of tolerance’ to the Council of Europe or other European bodies. Today, Haylur can’t become a source of news,” said the Haylur employee. He believes that Public TV, as a general rule, shouldn’t provide news coverage.

Economist Bagrat Asatryan is convinced that Public TV is an evil for developing nations in a transition stage. He especially doesn’t trust Armenia’s Public TV. Mr. Asatryan states, “Armenian Public TV must be closed down. Of course governments must have their programs but stations selected on a competitive basis can broadcast them. Public TV companies operating in transitional, non-established social systems in fact turn into public terror. 

A visitor to the forum section of the “Dar” (Century) Internet group posted the following, “I we don’t believe what Haylur tell us where would we find out that we live in a democratic society in which double-digit growth rates are experienced due to competitive market relations. Where would we turn to find out about the rates of development, the unbiased plans to utilize land in the capital, the fast rates of European integration, the reforms of the civil statutes...Sometimes it’s better just to watch ALM TV (owned by Tigran Karapetyan), where there’s at least some unintended humor.”

Retired pensioner Hamlet Hovhannisyan used to draw caricatures for the daily newspaper Iravunk. He says he enjoyed working there and noted, “While they really didn’t pay much I felt that, through my work, I was waging a kind of war. I always compared other papers to Iravunk.” He now confesses to be disillusioned, “They’ve gone over to supporting the regime. My caricatures were both funny and critical at the same time. I always felt in my heart that my cartoons reflected reality, that there was nothing false about them. Before the elections I drew a caricature of one of the government officials and took it to the editor of Iravunk for publication. Everyone who saw it burst out laughing but they made it clear to me that they couldn’t go ahead and publish it.” Hamlet says he stopped buying any newspaper before the elections. Rather he started listening to Radio Liberty broadcasts and turned to the Internet for news.  While he’d like to place more trust in the mass media, Mr. Hovhannisyan lamented the fact that presently he’s a non-believer.

Practically all the people we talked to note that the news broadcasts of Armenian Public TV don’t inspire them with much confidence. This doesn’t mean however that they trust the opposition media outlets. On the contrary, they complain about the extravagances of both sides.

Vardan Bareyan has been selling newspapers since 1994. He states that the papers of the opposition are better sellers than the rest. On average he daily sells 50 copies of Haykakan Zhamanak and only 4 of Hayastani Hanrapetutyun to the same group of loyal clients since that year. In describing the two papers he notes that, “Haykakan Zhamanak is one extreme and Hayastani Hanrapetutyun is at the other end of the spectrum. One humiliates and the other glorifies.”

Irina Arakelyan, a housewife who buys her paper from Hamlet, agrees, “There’s no single paper that has articles about both the good and bad aspects of life. In one paper you’ll read only about the positive side while in another only about the negative. There’s really no balance.”

Clearly readers find the opposition newspapers to be of more interest but they’d sell even better if they ‘didn’t cross the line’. Another post in the Dar Internet forum notes that, “There are certain professional standards, a lexicon and news style, that need to be respected. The paper Chorrord Ishkhanutyun has crossed this line and has become the mouthpiece of a few who despise the regime. The issue here isn’t that in fact the regime is good. On the contrary, the paper has sometimes been quite on target with its criticisms of the government. However the primary role of the press is to inform the public rather than become a forum for a war of words, even if the language used is clearly understood by the party its directed to.”

Irina Arakelyan states that, “Even though when reading the opposition press I feel that they’re saying the right thing, I don’t take any joy in that, rather discomfort. I feel somewhat ashamed that they call our public officials by their given nicknames. One can dislike the President or the Catholicos but it’s not acceptable to defame the concept of either the president or the catholicos. It’s not the man who makes the office but the ideals embedded in them. I would like to read critical articles regarding the President and the Catholicos which still respect the office of both.”

 Anahit Khechoyan, the Press Office Director at the Ministry of Economics, starts her workday by reading the papers.  She states that nowadays she rarely comes across professional articles in the papers. “I underline articles in the paper for the Minister to read. I would really like to place a   bundle of well-researched articles on the desk of my boss but sometimes I feel ashamed because it’s apparent that the reporter hasn’t done his or her homework in writing the article.”

She also believes that public officials also don’t place much trust in the mass media. Anahit notes that, “It especially perturbs me when a reporter shows up at the office already knowing what he or she will write in the article. They’re only looking for a quote or two from the official in order to maintain so-called objectivity. The official sees what’s happening and thus has little faith in the reporter.”

Bagrat Asatryan states, “During the 1990’s I thought to myself what must the news outlets do to improve. As an economist I linked it to an improvement in the overall social conditions. I thought that if the press could ensure self-generated revenue they’d function properly. But now I see that by becoming profitable business the TV companies have fallen under outside influences even more so. They’ve fallen into a trap and more money won’t get them out.”

There’s only one way out according to the economist, “Civil institutions must develop and regulate public demand. I am overjoyed that people came out and fought for the rights of GALA TV.”

Newsvendor Vardan says that the quality of newspaper articles has fallen and poses the following query, “This isn’t just my opinion but is directly reflected in the number of refutations and corrections that appear in almost all the papers. If they did their job right in the first place why would they need all these corrections?”