On February 20 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.
The preliminary statement notes in particular that the absence of private TV
broadcasters "A1+" and "Noyan Tapan", who had not received
broadcast licenses, throughout the campaign period "negatively affected
the electronic media environment, and contributed to a lack of balanced sources
of information". “ ‘A1+’, in particular, was expected
to offer an independent and diverse range of information about candidates",
the statement said.
In the observers’ opinion the public broadcasters clearly supported the incumbent
President who received extensive coverage beyond what was reasonably proportionate
to his role as a head of the state. "The President received 41% of primetime
coverage on public TV news and analytical programs, almost all of it (93%) in
his capacity as a candidate rather than engaged in presidential duties. The
next most covered candidates received 19% and 11%. Moreover, virtually all public
TV coverage (93%) of the incumbent was positive or neutral, while opposition
candidates received roughly equal proportions of negative and positive primetime
news and analytical coverage", the statement of Observation Mission says.
It is noted in the document that the private broadcasters were even more biased
in favor of the incumbent, largely ignoring opposition candidates. “For
example, the only private channel with nationwide outreach, "Prometheus",
allocated 61% of its prime-time news to the incumbent with an exclusively positive
tone. In contrast, two candidates considered as opposition front-runners accounted
for 5% and 3% respectively, with this coverage mainly negative", OSCE/ODIHR
and PACE representatives believe.
The document also informs about the violations of electoral legislation. In
particular, the National Commission on Television and Radio reported receiving
and adjudicating 54 complaints. Two private TV companies ("Kentron"
and "Prometheus") were fined for broadcasting the promotional materials
of the candidates without the special mark of "political advertisement"
or "pre-election promotion program".
As to the print media, the observers say they provided a plurality of views,
"but invariably showed strong bias either in favor of or against a candidate".
"Consequently, voters could form an objective view of the campaign only
if they read several publications", the statement of the Mission says.
“The state-funded "Hayastani Hanrapetutiun" showed clear support
for the incumbent by allocating him 66% of its candidate coverage, with an overwhelmingly
(99%) positive or neutral slant. In comparison, two candidates considered as
opposition front-runners received only 5% and 2% of the coverage, which was
mainly negative in tone", the document notes. The observers state that
some private newspapers provided more coverage of opposition candidates, and
were largely critical of the incumbent. " ‘Aravot’ daily, for example,
allocated 37% of its coverage to the incumbent, with an overwhelmingly negative
tone", the statement says.
It should be noted here that the preliminary conclusions of the International
Elections Observation Mission of OSCE/ODIHR and PACE on the media activities
during the election campaign in general coincide with the evaluations made in
the preliminary report of Yerevan Press Club on Armenian media monitoring.
The complete version of the preliminary statement by OSCE/ODIHR and PACE International
Observation Mission can be viewed here.
