The peace in the Armenian journalistic profession caused by the summer vacations of many media was broken by an incident between “Haylour” newscast of the Public Television of Armenia and the Information and Public Relations Department of the RA Government. The essence of the conflict was the fact that, because of an ancient disagreement between the Head of the Department Mary Haroutyunian and “Haylour” reporter Lilit Sedrakian, the latter was not allowed to enter the Houses of the Government where she was to cover the ordinary session of the Cabinet.
In its turn, the Public Television of Armenia, as a protest, refused to cover the work of the Government. The Chairman of the Council of Public Television and Radio of Armenia Tigran Naghdalian addressed an appropriate letter to the Prime Minister of the country Andranik Margarian.
Subsequently, the Prime Minister held a meeting with the management of PTA and the Information and Public Relations Department, after which the conflicting parties considered the incident to be settled. While an agreement has been reached that no obstructions to the work of the journalists will be made and that the activities of the Government must be freely covered, some media maintain that the tension between PTA and the Governmental Department still exists.
