From April 21 to May 23, 2003, Yerevan Press Club has been conducting monitoring of the Armenian media coverage of the RA National Assembly election campaign. The monitoring is implemented under the project supported by the Open Society Institute. Assistance in the YPC monitoring is provided by "Asparez" Journalists’ Club of Gyumri and Internews Armenia public organization.
The aim of the monitoring is revealing objectivity level in the election coverage by the broadcasting (primarily public) media, as well as the degree of interest the election participants manifest in using media advertising. Four nationwide and three local TV channels, one nationwide radio station and ten leading social-political newspapers have become object of the monitoring.
The conclusions of the monitoring group are based on the following indicators: the volume of editorial coverage of the parties and blocs participating in the elections by the proportional system, as well as the quantity and character of their mentionings in the informational and analytical TV and radio programs; the list of participants of TV discussion programs; the volume of pre-election advertising of the parties/blocs in broadcasting and print media.
The first two weeks of the monitoring have demonstrated that the Public Television of Armenia, in contrast to the presidential elections that have taken place two months earlier, manifests its intention to provide a balanced coverage of the campaign without giving obvious preference to any of the political forces. At the same time, two leading private TV channels "Prometheus" and "Armenia" in their news and analytical programs devote much more attention to the parties, considered pro-presidential, than to the opposition ones. In the least degree, such an approach to election coverage characterizes Yerevan "Shant" TV company. "Kentron" (Yerevan) and "Tsayg" (Gyumri) TV channels manifest greatest impartiality covering parties/blocs campaigning in accordance with the pre-election activity of the latter. "ALM" TV channel, whose owner is a deputy candidate (both as the party leader and from single member constituency) and uses airtime primarily for his political purposes, stands aside by itself.
The distinctive feature of the parliamentary election campaign TV coverage, in comparison to the presidential one, is its positive character. In other words, deputy candidates are given the opportunity to speak about themselves using the direct speech, and the editorial commentary is neutral and is reduced to the minimum.
In the course of the monitoring, the increasing political weight of broadcasting media is becoming apparent in comparison to print media. Parties and blocs demonstrate almost absolute lack of interest in placing political advertisement in the newspapers. Political forces use primarily those publications for pre-election promotion which one way or another are under their control.
