On December 12-13 in Aghveran the second seminar on “The Perspectives of Media
Self-Regulation in Armenia” was held. The event was organized by Yerevan Press
Club under a project supported by the Office of OSCE Representative on Freedom
of the Media (the first seminar took place in the end of October – see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, October 23-29, 2009).
The event was attended by the members of Media Ethics Observatory (MEO), heads,
representatives of media and professional associations, who supported the YPC
initiative of establishing a media self-regulation system in Armenia. As it
has been reported, the MEO was found on March 10, 2007 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
March 9-15, 2007). The mission of MEO consists in considering
the complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct of Media
Representatives and rendering judgments on them. Lately, the initiative was
joined by “Yerkir”, “Spitaki Lusardzak” (Spitak), “Tufashkhari Arorian” (Artik)
newspapers and “Syuni” TV company (Sisian). Thus, as of today, the Code of Conduct
and its addendum, the Declaration on Election and Referendum Coverage Principles,
are signed by 41 entities, representing 44 Armenian media. The initiative is
supported by 8 journalistic associations.
At the second seminar in Aghveran the initiative members approved the Regulations
of MEO, considered the principles of rotation of MEO members. Among other issues,
the event centered on the discussion of international trends of media self-regulation
systems; the acute problems of journalism ethics in Armenia; the protection
of children’s rights in the scope of professional guidelines; the issue of public
awareness on media self-regulation mechanisms.
