The International Observation Mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OSCE (OSCE/ODIHR) has publicized its conclusions on RA presidential elections. One of the sections of the report is devoted to the media in Armenia. Here in particular the results of Election Observation Mission monitoring on media coverage of the election campaign (first and second rounds) are presented.
As it is stated in the report, publicly-funded media have not met the obligation outlined in the RA Law “On Television and Radio” and the CEC decision of January 15 to provide voters with information about the candidates free from prejudice or preference. According to EOM, although the Public Television of Armenia did adhere to the legal provisions relating to providing free advertising time for all political contestants, its news, analytical and other programs were biased. They clearly supported the incumbent who received extensive coverage beyond what was reasonably proportionate to his role as the Head of State.
As to the private broadcasters, they, as the report runs, have demonstrated even more bias in favor of the incumbent, generally ignoring opposition candidates. The observers illustrate this conclusion with the following examples based on media monitoring results of the first round of the election campaign:
"‘Prometheus’, one of the private channels with nationwide outreach, allocated 61% of its primetime news to the incumbent with an exclusively positive tone. In contrast, the two candidates considered as opposition front-runners accounted for 5% and 3% respectively with this coverage mainly negative.
TV ‘Armenia’, another nationwide private broadcaster, allocated the incumbent 65% of its primetime news coverage which was overwhelmingly positive in tone. In comparison, the channel generally ignored the opposition front-runners who each received only 2% of approximately equal proportions of negative and positive primetime news coverage.
TV ‘ALM’ allocated 61% of its primetime news coverage to the incumbent, with an overwhelmingly positive slant.
TV ‘Shant’ was slightly more objective than the other private broadcasters monitored by the EOM, allocating 47% of its primetime news coverage to the incumbent, once again mainly positive. The next most covered candidates received respectively 15% and 14% of mainly neutral or positive primetime news coverage.”
The cost of paid political advertising (0 per minute), according to OSCE/ODIHR, was very high by local standards, limiting candidates’ possibilities to campaign in the media. “The rate emerged from an unusual price-fixing agreement among Public TV and five private television stations that offered fixed rates for political advertising. This rate for political advertising was approximately three times higher than comparable rates for commercial advertising on private television”, EOM notes.
The observers viewed to be a positive development the conductance of TV debate between the two main contestants – for the first time in the history of Armenian presidential elections, which was held on Public TV and was aired by a several other TV channels. “Six journalists representing Armenian private TV companies were invited to ask questions to both candidates. The format of the debate and the selection of participating journalists were regarded as biased by the opposition candidate. In fact, all the journalists came from TV stations that supported the President”, the report states. Organization of a number of debates and discussions between candidate representatives by several private TV stations was also praised.
According to the OSCE/ODIHR report, print media 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 conclusions of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM on the Armenian media activity during presidential elections-2003 contain the following recommendations:
“In order to help ensure impartiality in the regulation of broadcasting, Articles 29 and 39 of the Law ‘On Television and Radio’ should be amended to provide for balanced membership on the National Commission on Television and Radio and on the Council of Public TV and Radio Company. The Council should oversee the Public TV and Radio independently to ensure publicly-funded media to live up to their requirements for neutrality.
The public media should develop a neutral, objective and informative editorial line and its reporting should be balanced, including when covering government activities during an election period.
State authorities should refrain from interfering in the activities of journalists and other media personnel with a view to influencing elections. There should not be any intimidation, threats, closures or pressure on the media by public authorities.”
The complete version of the OSCE/ODIHR final report (in the English language) is available in “Media and Presidential Elections-2003” section.
