On March 6 the press-conference of International Observation Mission of OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was held. At the meeting with journalists the Observation Mission presented its preliminary conclusions on the elections of the RA president, including the Armenian media activities during the pre-election campaign for the second round.
The preliminary statement notes in particular that during the second round campaign the Public Television of Armenia comprehensively failed to meet its obligation outlined in the RA Law "On Television and Radio" and the RA CEC decision of January 15 to provide voters with unprejudiced and unbiased information. "While Public TV adhered to the legal provisions to provide 15 minutes of free advertising to both candidates during the official campaign period for the second round, its news and analytical programs overtly promoted the incumbent, who continued to receive extensive coverage. Public TV also produced a primetime news item discrediting the opposition candidate", the statement of the observers says. According to the data of OSCE/ODIHR and PACE, Robert Kocharian received 69% of primetime coverage on PTA news and analytical programs, almost all of it positive or neutral (93%). In contrast, Stepan Demirchyan received 31% of the coverage, of which 67% was negative.
The observers viewed to be a positive development the conductance of TV debate between the second round presidency rivals – for the first time in the history of Armenian presidential elections, which was held on PTA and was aired by a number of other TV channels. The initiative of several private TV companies who organized debates and discussions of the supporters of the candidates was also praised.
At the same time, in the opinion of the observers, in the period between the two rounds the private broadcasters “failed to provide a level playing field for the opposition candidate and remained openly biased in favor of the incumbent in their primetime news coverage". The statement of the observers notes that the decision of the five private TV companies not to offer paid political advertising services "further limited the possibility for the opposition candidate to present his views".
As to the print media, in the opinion of the observers, "they continued to show clear bias in favor of their chosen candidate to the extent that that it was almost impossible for a voter to rely on any one source of information to gain an objective view of the campaign". “The state-funded ‘Hayastani Hanrapetutiun’ remained heavily biased in favor of the incumbent by allocating him 57% of its candidate coverage with an exclusively positive tone. In comparison, the opposition candidate received 43% of coverage, of which 67% was negative. The only alternative sources of political information were a limited number of opposition newspapers that showed clear bias against the incumbent and offered a platform to his opponent. The ‘Aravot’ daily, for example, allocated 62% of its coverage to the incumbent, with an overwhelmingly negative tone. However, due to low impact and localized circulation, the few opposition newspapers could not compensate for the lack of balance in the electronic media", the report of the international observes runs.
The representatives of OSCE/ODIHR and PACE noted that they had received reports of intimidation and harassment of journalists, also representing the Public Television of Armenia in the period between two rounds. The statement mentions the interruption of the rebroadcasting of Russian NTV company in Armenia since February 26.
"In general, the media’s biased coverage of the election demonstrated that Armenia still lacks a strong and independent media able to provide sufficient, balanced information to enable the electorate to make a well-informed decision", the report of the observation mission concludes.
Similarly to the first round of the presidential elections, the assessment of Armenian media activities in the second round, as presented by the preliminary reports of the International Observation Mission and Yerevan Press Club generally coincide.
The complete version of the preliminary statement by OSCE/ODIHR and PACE International Observation Mission can be viewed here.
