On April 11 in Yerevan a round table meeting titled “Professional Ethics of Journalists and Media Self-Regulation” was held. The meeting was organized by Yerevan Press Club, International Federation of Journalists and the Journalists Union of Armenia. The discussion brought together representatives of Armenian media and professional associations as well as a free-lance journalist from Ireland Ronan Brady, who arrived in Armenia on the commission of Council of Europe and IFJ to study the media situation in the country.
The urgent need for the modern Armenian media to have professional codes of conduct and the importance of establishing a single self-regulation body were the central subjects for the discussion at the round table. Thus, a press council, founded by the efforts of the whole journalistic community, will help the representatives of the fourth estate to remember both the rights presented by the freedom of speech, and the responsibility it entails.
If you do not want “to be regulated”, “regulate” yourself. After the recent events (the restrictive draft law “On Mass Communication”, the absurd legal actions and criminal prosecution of journalists, the notorious broadcast licensing process, etc.), tending to intensify, as the elections draw nearer, this advice is of great use to Armenian media.
