On February 9, the Civilitas Foundation organized discussion "Mass Media: How to work in limited conditions". The guests were the executive director of Gala television company Karine Harutyunyan, the chief editor of the Analiticon journal published in NK Gegham Baghdasaryan and co-founder of Epress electronic newspaper Armen Melikbekyan.

The following questions were discussed: what are the issues of establishing quality mass media in Armenia, whether the lack of political independence is conditioned by the lack of financial independence, what the government gains by restricting freedom of the broadcast media, what is the level of professionalism of journalists, and are there any opportunities to provide more quality journalism in these limited conditions?

The executive director of Gala television company Karine Harutyunyan mentioned that in reality the closure of Gala TV station means not only punishment of Gala for its active work but it also serves as signal to other TV stations, indicating that this may happen also to others if they take too active stand especially in the sphere of political matters. Mrs. Harutyunyan noted that television companies and other media should just do their work not relying on any force, be it the government or opposition, especially when the boundaries between these two are so vague. Nevertheless, Mrs. Harutyunyan was positive that mass media will understand that there is no alternative for mass media than working in the situation of real independence. 

Mr. Baghdasaryan mentioned that one of the issues today for mass media is that the majority of population in Armenia receives its information through television, and the newspapers, which may have more influence on the population as in other countries, are not connected to their readers. If the newspaper has money, it is published, and if it does not have the money, then it is not published. When it is published, the articles are chosen not based on the demand but based on the editor's wish. So, the society does not form the taste.

It is significant, as mentioned by Mr. Baghdasaryan, that having independent media is a pretty costly pleasure, because to be independent means that mass media outlets should provide their own financial independence which is difficult in our conditions. Thus, the mass media rely on the state, and those who pay they also order.

Mr. Baghdasaryan talked about another interesting phenomena that the informational field cannot wait until the state is established, and then start providing information about everything that happens. At the same time, the state also cannot be considered as established without independent press. So, the government should consider the fact that both the state and the media should develop together.

In the area of Internet and, particularly, regarding the Epress electronic newspaper, Mr. Melikbekyan mentioned that electronic media has wider opportunities to provide information, which is good, on one side, and bad, if the information provided does not correspond to the reality.

However, the electronic media are also in the centre of the government's attention, and there are times when some news is not published. For example, the developments connected to the Azerbaijani film festival in the beginning were published only by the Epress newspaper, and there were journalists who were very content about that, because they have been prohibited to write about it in their own newspapers.

Mr. Melikbekyan also mentioned that although there were serious changes in the field of Internet, and the number of users increased especially after 2008, still a lot of time is required that Internet in Armenia becomes ½ popular as television. He added that we should not expect that the Internet can revolutionise the society and political sphere in Armenia like in other places, because, for example, 920 of 1000 users of Epress are from Yerevan. In addition, the expensiveness of Internet suggests that Armenia needs about 10 years for the Internet to bring a change in the society and stimulate a struggle for the change.

Regarding creation of the independent mass media, there was another important remark that business can play a big role in this regard, if not dependent on the government. In reality, the advertising is placed on the Internet sites not because they have many readers, but because of their political orientation. Otherwise, the newspapers such as www.a1plus.am, www.azatutyun.am, which have many readers, should have more advertising than www.tert.am.

Sofia Manukyan

Source: www.hra.am