"The best way to not distribute your newspapers is to sign a no-return contract with the distribution agencies," say some of the managers of the print media in Armenia. "But that is the most effective way today, there is no alternative. We are forced to do it that way," say others. Only in exceptional cases is a no-return contract considered an excellent, mutually beneficial option. But all of those who spoke with us - both newspaper staff and distribution agencies - find that the print media distribution network needs improvement.

"I don't know if this suits me, or not"

Iravunk's executive director , Gegham Grigoryan, says that they have started printing supplements in order to survive market competition and keep the newspaper afloat. The circulation rises along with that of other newspapers, whenever the political situation heats up. Grigoryan does not consider the newspaper distribution network to be satisfactory, especially in the provincial areas. "There is a limited number of press distribution agencies and although we work with all of them, it is not enough. There has been a redistribution of economic control in Yerevan, but newsstands are still in the same places. Business areas have changed." Grigoryan feels that this also effects newspaper distribution. He considers this to be the very reason why a network of mobile distributors has emerged. With little exception, the directors of the media outlets we spoke to said that it was not profitable for the newspaper staff to carry out distribution themselves - it wouldn't cover its own costs.

" Iravunk refuses to sign no-return contracts with press distribution agencies. We prefer to work with all the agencies in equal conditions," Grigoryan said. "We don't have no-return contracts," said Tigran Farmanyan, editor-in-chief of Hayastani Hanrapetutyun. " That would leave us dependent on the distribution agency because it would force us to stick to a specific number of printed copies." Farmanyan doubts that the agencies have accurate information about the demand for his paper, since they have no mechanisms for calculating it.

Arshaluys Manukyan, executive director of the Haymamul closed-stock company, considers no-return contracts to be mutually beneficial, otherwise they would only have functioned for half a year, whereas Haymamul has been working with some newspapers on these terms for four years now. "No-return is a very convenient option for newspapers," echoed Aravot director Petros Petrosyan, otherwise newspaper managers would often have to solve the problem of unsold copies "among themselves". Petrosyan is not happy with the fact that, as a part of no-return contracts, Haymamul insists on a specific, and naturally, low level of circulation, but said, "I don't need to spend money and print a newspaper for it not to be sold, and to come back." Manukyan, of Haymamul, claims that even in cases of no-return they sometimes risk higher circulation and are left with unsold copies, but that their profits can cover it.

A no-return contract means that Haymamul is obliged to buy a specific number of copies of a given newspaper and not bother the newspaper if some of them remain unsold. But if the percentage of unsold copies rises above a certain level, then they contact the newspaper office and lower the level of circulation. In the contract with Aravot , however, there is also no clause regarding a possible rise in the level of circulation. Petrosyan said, "We have calculated based on cost, and it's better that I print fewer copies and create a deficit rather than spend more printing a lot, and end up with unsold copies." He sees Aravot's development as coming from two sources - improvements in the postal system and in the Internet version of the paper - both of which would lead to an increase in circulation.

Hakob Avetikyan, editor-in-chief of the Azg daily said, "I have a no-return contract with Haymamul , but I don't know if it works for me or not..With no return, newsstand owners and distributors don't want to raise the circulation level by even one copy. Our circulation has been the same since 1997, which means we have no new readers. This is due either to our content, or to ineffective distribution." Azg has a no-return contract only with Haymamul , and works with Haypost and two other agencies with a return of unsold copies.

Avetikyan believes that another reason distribution is not effective is the misguided privatization of newsstand, something editors had predicted. Newsstands have been privatized, but the land on which they are located has only been rented out. This means that the owners could be asked to shut down and move at any moment. The Haymamul director also expressed his discontent on this front. He says that the new owners of other privatized property often force newsstand owners to leave because they do not like the way the stand looks, or because it is too close to their own property. Haymamul has already registered sixteen such cases and plans to present the issue in its entirety to the Mayor of Yerevan after preliminary discussions. Haymamul has 130 newsstands in Yerevan alone, and a total of 250 throughout the country. As to how many newsstands there are overall in Yerevan, even Karen Gevorgyan, the Head of the Department of Trade and Service in the Office of the Mayor of Yerevan, does not have this information.

He says that the land on which newsstands are located cannot be privatized because economic and strategic reasons at any point in time may require that they be moved. Gevorgyan was aware of Haymamul' 's problem, but assured us that each newsstand must be examined as a separate case. He believes that owners of adjacent pieces of property may claim that the land that the kiosk occupies belongs to them, and this would have to be verified in the property deed. Gevorgyan assured us, however, that if a newsstand has to be moved, a new location is provided to the owner in question. "If it doesn't bother someone more important", he added. He also said that, on the orders of the mayor, his department was conducting a study of all the newsstands in the capital. In order to provide a picture of when that study will be complete and its results available, Gevorgyan explained that it had taken four months of work to cover two streets.

"Unofficial" circulation

Newspaper managers deny the existence of "unofficial" circulation, i.e. illegal copies printed and sold by publishing houses. The Hayastani Hanrapetutyun editor-in-chief says that he has a representative at the publishing house who makes sure that no illegal copies are printed. He says entertainment papers are usually printed "unofficially".

Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak, does not have a representative at the publishing house, but has other means of supervision, and is certain that no extra copies are printed. The managers of other mass media who spoke with us are also of the same opinion. However, the executive director of Haymamul feels that it is "unofficial circulation" that causes their business the most harm. "I have no evidence, but I am sure of it." He is also certain that those copies are bought at their newsstands. A newspaper vendor in the city center, who agreed to speak with us if his name and newsstand number were kept anonymous, rules this out. "There is no point in selling unofficial copies, we have to fulfill the day's quota." It is that quota which determines a seller's salary, which, according to the director, is very low - if the seller is an old woman, then it is a monthly sum of 10,000 drams, which equals their daily circulation. Their monthly quota is 230,000 drams. Also, the seller claims that he pays for electricity out of his salary, which, in the winter, comes to a considerable sum. This forces him to sell cigarettes as well, which is not included on the list of items he is allowed to deal in, in order to cover his "transport and lunch expenses". He also confirmed the Haymamul director's claim that unsold copies are not left to the newspaper vendors. He said that he received fifteen copies each of the best selling dailies, and that was the real demand. As of 2 p.m., he had already sold 12-13 copies of each, and was sure that by the end of work at 6 pm, he would have sold the rest as well.

Searching for a Doyen, or Why the Press Distribution Network Does Not Improve

"It's a vicious cycle," said Farmanyan. He says that newspapers have low levels of circulation; people aren't grabbing them out of each other's hands. That's why the distributor can't be sure that he'll be able to distribute more, and doesn't ask for more copies. And since distribution is poor, the paper can't develop financially and put together better content. "There has to be a breakthrough somewhere," says Farmanyan, referring to a possible solution. But he does not see it happening anytime soon, because nobody considers publishing newspapers a lucrative business. Azg editor-in-chief Hakob Avetikyan said, "Having a sponsor ruined our newspaper." He feels that this is exactly the reason why so many other items have gotten more expensive over the years, while newspapers have cost 100 drams for around nine years. "There is no real pricing, as there is in the bread market, for example," he said.

Tigran Farmanyan was about to define this state as "parasitic" but then formulated it in the following way - "Newspapers have other sources of income - mine is the state budget; others have sponsors".

As a further reason for lack of originality, newspaper managers point to a poor advertising market. Commercials are few, prices are low, and many papers end up rejecting them. And "advertising" is a relative term in these cases. "What advertising? They're just announcements."

By "breakthrough", the Hayastani Hanrapetutyun editor also meant newspaper managers uniting, an unsuccessful attempt at which was made in trying to establish an alternative press distribution agency. "But that requires other means as well, such as start-up capital," which the newspapers do not have.

Armenian papers cannot unite for another reason, even around a common goal. As some of those who spoke with us said, "Teamwork is impossible among Armenians." Moreover, it would be difficult for the editors to choose what Farmanyan calls a doyen , to head such a union (from the French doyen, usually used in diplomacy, meaning an unofficial leader accepted and respected by all).

Estimating Popularity

Hayastani Hanrapetutyun works with both Haymamul and Haypost. The former returns unsold copies, while the latter holds a no-return contract. In this case, the editor says that the level of circulation is not fixed, because Haypost takes only 30-40% of their printed copies, and distributes them mainly in the provincial areas - "They send vehicles everywhere to deliver the mail anyway". Haymamul sells 40-50% of the newspaper's copies in Yerevan. The 10-20% earlier given to Haycontact is now bought by individual distributors.

The demand for the newspaper is checked with Haypost on a daily basis. However, there is no scientific mechanism in place to determine a newspaper's popularity, and as Farmanyan said, "We do it approximately, guesstimating to a certain extent."

"We determine popularity based on unsold copies," says the Haymamul executive director. They conduct surveys among kiosk operators as well. Redistribution among kiosks is conducted every week.

In Grave yet Stable Condition

"It is very difficult to say what the level of circulation should be," said Nikol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak , which holds a no-return contract with Haymamul . He says that he receives complaints regarding the number of copies sold from his own staff members, who consider there to be more demand than supply. However, "a no-return contract is convenient in that it simplifies making a work plan, and thus, calculating a stable income." On the other hand, Pashinyan asks that if Haymamul makes a profit out of distributing the newspapers, then why would they not consider raising the level of circulation if the demand warrants it?

Having said all this, Pashinyan added, " Haymamul has no way to determine the required circulation," and views Haymamul as "a morally and physically ruined Soviet network that has changed very little." Modernizing it and bringing it to a level corresponding to the demands of the market would require huge investments, according to the editor.

Pashinyan also cites a political reason for the low circulation of print media. He believes that higher circulation could change the atmosphere created by television channels. "The authorities want to limit the circulation of newspapers, because their main weapon is lack of information among the masses. The authorities use this as their trump card." Further developing this thought, Pashinyan says that there are two kinds of life in Armenia today - the one depicted on television (and sometimes in newspapers) and real life, led by the vast majority of the population. "These two rarely coincide. Nobody needs a newspaper to figure out his shop's future." He explains that people solve their problems with, for example, the municipality, or the tax department, within their own little world. "What do we write in our newspapers, anyway? We have to interest people, which we still aren't doing." But he does not consider the situation hopeless, because the problem has been recognized. And this, he thinks, heralds the end of one stage of the development of the press, and the beginning of another.

"Our newspapers haven't gotten past the survival stage", says the Azg editor-in-chief, "and we stand to lose our readers, who don't see our newspapers covering their problems."

"They haven't said so, but it's understood."

The alternative to newspaper distribution that the editors had tried to undertake could not have been successful in any case, because, as Nikol Pashinyan said, "We have to deal with putting the newspaper together, and others with selling it. We have to create such a good product that they want to buy it." But the Haykakan Zhamanak editor sees the same political problem here as well. "I know that there are people who are ready to set up such a system, but are afraid that they will not be allowed to do so. Maybe even Haymamul isn't being allowed to." Pashinyan does not feel that a direct warning to the agency is necessary. "Nobody is sure that Haykakan Zhamanak won't be punished if it raises its circulation to 20,000 or 50,000. They haven't said so, but it's understood."

The executive director of Haymamul, Arshaluys Grigoryan, said, "As far as business is concerned, it makes no difference to me whether I sell Haykakan Zhamanak or crossword puzzles. I prefer to deal with whatever sells better." He notes that they do not differentiate between profits obtained by distributing entertainment publication and newspapers, although newspapers make up 30-40% of the total sale. "Political orders are ruled out," Manukyan said. Political orders could only be carried out if Haymamul were a monopoly. He does admit, however, that Haymamul's volume of work is greater that of all the other agencies put together.