WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY UNDER THE TOKEN OF ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
On May 2-4 in Tsaghkadzor, the seminar “Media at Elections-2003”, organized by Yerevan Press Club with the support of Friedrich Ebert Foundation, took place. The event was devoted to the most vital issue for the country and the “fourth estate“at present – the past presidential and subsequent parliamentary elections. It has coincided, or to be more precise, has been devoted to a no less significant journalistic date – World Press Freedom Day. In 1993, the UN General Assembly declared May 3 as the journalists’ international professional holiday. Since 1997, it has appeared in the calendar of the Armenian media. According to the tradition, this day is marked by summing up the previous year’s results and looking forward to the future.
The interchangeable election marathons and the relevant events provide plenty of food for speculation. The results of the YPC media monitoring on the coverage of the RA presidential elections, presented at the Tsaghkadzor seminar by the YPC Expert Mesrop Harutyunyan, and the results of a similar study for the first ten days of the National Assembly election campaign provide the media with the opportunity of a look from the outside. Besides air time seconds and newspaper centimeters, no less important is the ethical aspect of this coverage, whose problems were stressed by the Executive Director of the Public Television of Armenia Armen Arzumanian. The distinct feature of the elections-2003 has become their deep “penetration“ into the virtual space. Internews Armenia producer Armen Sargsian has presented the Internet activity of the media and professional associations. The Chairwoman of the Journalists Union of Armenia Astghik Gevorgian has spoken about the extensive program of JUA directed at assistance to the journalists covering the elections (International Press Center, training courses and etc.). Election campaigns in the eyes of foreign media – it is to this topic that the speech of the Foreign Correspondents Association President Tigran Hovhannisian was devoted. YPC President Boris Navasardian has analysed the situation with the freedom of speech in Armenia and the region also citing the assessments of international organizations publicized on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.
ARMENIAN MEDIA HAVE BECOME NOT FREE
On April 30 the international human rights organization “Freedom House” published its Annual Survey of Press Freedom Worldwide in 2002. The situation with the media of 193 countries was evaluated using the numerical scale from 1 to 100 based on the following criteria: free (1-30 points), partly free (31-60), not free (61-100) – the lower the score the higher the degree of freedom. The freedom of press was evaluated along three dimensions: legislation influencing media; political pressure, control and violence towards media; economic pressure and control over media. The sum of the scores along the three dimensions yielded the aggregate rating of the condition of media in a country.
In 2002, this rating for Armenia equalled 65 points, and thus our media have for the first time been recognized as not free. The tendency for the deterioration of the situation with the freedom of speech in the country has manifested itself already in 2001 when “Freedom House” evaluated Armenian press with 60 points – one point lower than in 2000 (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 20-26, 2002). A quite considerable five score decline occurred as a result of the increased economic pressure and control over media (16 points out of 30 possible for this dimension) and the deteriorated legal environment (23 points out of 30). As for the degree of political influence on media, according to “Freedom House” data, it has remained the same (26 points out of 40).
According to the report, such an obvious decline of the rating in Armenia is the “result of the government’s repeated use of security or criminal libel laws to stifle criticism”. As another reason the closing of the country’s leading independent TV company “A1+” is brought forward. “Often critical of the government, “A1+” did not resume broadcasting in the run-up to presidential and parliamentary elections”, “Freedom House” states. The researchers also note that most media are seeking “sponsorship from powerful the business or political interests” which “frequently exercise de facto editorial control over content and foster a climate of self-censorship among journalists”.
The worsening of the situation with the freedom of speech in 2002 is emphasized by ”Freedom House” in other post-Soviet countries as well. As those in Armenia, Russian media have declined from partly free to not free (66 points). Georgia scored one point higher (54) compared with the situation in 2000-2001. In Azerbaijan, in contrast, improvement is detected (73 points versus 77 in 2001). As a whole among the CIS countries, most unfavourable ratings are with Turkmenistan (92), Uzbekistan (86) and Belarus (82).
WALTER SCHWIMMER CALLS FOR CREATION OF A WORLD FREE FROM THREAT FOR THE JOURNALISTS
On May 2, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer has appealed to governments and the international community to create a safer environment for journalists. In his speech CE Secretary General has condemned the death of media representatives in the Iraq war and the increasing threats to the physical safety of journalists worldwide. “Since the beginning of this year 25 journalists have been killed – including 14 in the Iraq war – and hundreds have been threatened or injured. Such actions cannot be condoned”, Mr. Schwimmer declared. “Freedom of information is the touchstone of a democratic society and journalists must therefore be given the chance to exercise their profession without hindrance”, he added. The head of CE has appealed to states and international institutions “to do all they can in order to create a world where journalists are free from threat”. And he called on the media themselves “to promote the highest professional standards in their daily work – ensuring the free flow of information to their readers and viewers”.
“ENEMY OF PRESS” TITLE AGAIN AWARDED TO ROBERT KOCHARIAN BY NATIONAL PRESS CLUB
On May 3, the National Press Club, as in the previous year, declared President of Armenia Robert Kocharian “Enemy of Press”. The title was established by this journalistic organization in 2002 and is conferred on World Press Freedom Day. In the diploma of the National Press Club, submitted to the President’s Office, it is noted that Robert Kocharian has been honored with this title “for the establishment of full control over the media, in particular over TV broadcasting, for the stubborn disregard of the Draft Law ‘On Media’, for non-resumption of ‘A1+’ and ‘Noyan Tapan’ TV companies broadcasting, for condoning those who committed violence towards journalists during election campaign, for the cleavage of the journalistic community”.
MEDIA AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS-2003: YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MONITORING (APRIL 21 – MAY 3)
From April 21 to May 23, 2003, Yerevan Press Club has been conducting monitoring of the Armenian media coverage of the RA National Assembly election campaign. The monitoring is implemented under the project supported by the Open Society Institute. Assistance in the YPC monitoring is provided by “Asparez” Journalists’ Club of Gyumri and Internews Armenia public organization.
The aim of the monitoring is revealing objectivity level in the election coverage by the broadcasting (primarily public) media, as well as the degree of interest the election participants manifest in using media advertising. Four nationwide and three local TV channels, one nationwide radio station and ten leading social-political newspapers have become object of the monitoring.
The conclusions of the monitoring group are based on the following indicators: the volume of editorial coverage of the parties and blocs participating in the elections by the proportional system, as well as the quantity and character of their mentionings in the informational and analytical TV and radio programs; the list of participants of TV discussion programs; the volume of pre-election advertising of the parties/blocs in broadcasting and print media.
The first two weeks of the monitoring have demonstrated that the Public Television of Armenia, in contrast to the presidential elections that have taken place two months earlier, manifests its intention to provide a balanced coverage of the campaign without giving obvious preference to any of the political forces. At the same time, two leading private TV channels “Prometheus” and “Armenia” in their news and analytical programs devote much more attention to the parties, considered pro-presidential, than to the opposition ones. In the least degree, such an approach to election coverage characterizes Yerevan “Shant” TV company. “Kentron” (Yerevan) and “Tsayg” (Gyumri) TV channels manifest greatest impartiality covering parties/blocs campaigning in accordance with the pre-election activity of the latter. “ALM” TV channel, whose owner is a deputy candidate (both as the party leader and from single member constituency) and uses airtime primarily for his political purposes, stands aside by itself.
The distinctive feature of the parliamentary election campaign TV coverage, in comparison to the presidential one, is its positive character. In other words, deputy candidates are given the opportunity to speak about themselves using the direct speech, and the editorial commentary is neutral and is reduced to the minimum.
In the course of the monitoring, the increasing political weight of broadcasting media is becoming apparent in comparison to print media. Parties and blocs demonstrate almost absolute lack of interest in placing political advertisement in the newspapers. Political forces use primarily those publications for pre-election promotion which one way or another are under their control.
FINAL REPORT OF OSCE/ODIHR INTERNATIONAL OBSERVATION MISSION ON RA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
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.
CPJ AND RSF CONDEMN BEATING OF ” CHORRORD ISHKHANUTYUN” NEWSPAPER CORRESPONDENT
On April 30, the American organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the assault at “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” opposition newspaper correspondent Mher Ghalechian. One should remind that on April 29, the journalist was heavily beaten in the newspaper editorial office in connection with the article “Another Mansion Built with Karlos Petrosian’s Salary” published on April 25 (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 25 – May 1, 2003).The declaration of CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon contains an appeal to the Armenian authorities to conduct “a timely and thorough investigation of this incident” and to bring the perpetrators to justice “so that journalists will be able to report the news safely and freely”. A similar appeal is voiced in the address of the international organization “Reporters Without Borders” (RSF) published on May 2.
HCA VANADZOR BRANCH ATTACKED A SECOND TIME
In the early morning of May 5, an attempt was made to break the window bars of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor branch office where the editorial board of “Civil Initiative” weekly is located. Yerevan Press Club was notified about it by the head of the HCA Vanadzor branch and newspaper editor Arthur Sakunts. The malefactors have also broken the front door upper cover.
This is already the second assault on the HCA Vanadzor branch. The office was set on fire in the early morning of March 14, however the perpetrators have not been found up to this day. The arson occurred on the eve of the action realized by this human rights organization and devoted to 2003 presidential elections violations. In the course of the action, Arthur Sakunts was arrested and sentenced to 10 days of administrative imprisonment (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, March 15-21, 2003).
COMPETITIONS ON THREE FREQUENCIES ANNOUNCED
On May 3 the National Commission on Television and Radio announced new TV and radio broadcast licensing competitions. This time, three frequencies have been put forward there: 25th UHF of Yerevan, 32nd UHF of Charentsavan (Kotayk region) and FM 104.1 Mhz of Gyumri (Shirak region).
At present, “Armenia” TV company is aired on the Yerevan frequency, “Lusalik” TV – on the Charentsavan frequency, and the Gyumri frequency is occupied by “Shant” radio station.
The deadline for the competition participation bids expires on May 27, 2003. The bids will be considered by the National Commission on June 7. The competition results will be publicized on the 40th day after its announcement.
NEW PRESS SECRETARY OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT APPOINTED
On May 5, RA President Robert Kocharian appointed Ashot Kocharian his new press secretary. Ashot Kocharian was born in 1957. Having graduated from the Yerevan Brusov State Pedagogical Institute of the Russian and Foreign Languages, English language department, he continued his education as a post-graduate student at the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the RA National Academy of Sciences where he defended his thesis on the issues of war and piece. Mr. Kocharian has taken special diplomatic courses in the Vienna Diplomatic Academy and the Hague Institute of International Relations. Since 1992 he worked in the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2002 until the present appointment Ashot Kocharian was the head of MFA International Organization Department.
President’s previous press secretary, Vahe Gabrielian, was appointed RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in March of the current year.
PUBLIC RADIO OF ARMENIA HAS CELEBRATED ITS 73 YEARS ANNIVERSARY, AND RADIO “VAN” HAS BECOME PRIZE-WINNER OF THE POPOV AWARD
On the Radio Day, May 7, the State Radio of Armenia, which is now transformed into the Public Radio of Armenia, has marked 73 years of its establishment. On the occasion of the holiday, PRA has conducted a contest on 13 nominations and has distributed awards to its best staff members.
At the same day in Moscow, the ceremony of presenting the Popov Professional Award in Radio Broadcasting 2003 took place. Russian-language radio stations of the CIS and Baltic countries, Israel, UK participated in 14 nominations of the contest.
In the nomination of the “Male Voice” the prize-winner of the Popov Award has become Egor Glumov from Yerevan private Radio “VAN” FM 103. Radio “VAN” has also entered the number of the three best in five other nominations: “On-Air Design”, “Sound Director”, “Cultural Program”, “Specialized Program”, “Entertainment Program”.
The Award of the radio inventor Alexander Popov was established in 1998 by the charity Foundation for Broadcasting Development.
Yerevan Press Club congratulates the Public Radio of Armenia, Radio “VAN” and all the colleagues radio-broadcasters on the professional holiday and wishes them unimpeded air, large and loving audience!
80TH JUBILEE OF “AVANGARD” NEWSPAPER
On March 5, one of the oldest publications of Armenia, “Avangard” newspaper celebrated its 80 years’ anniversary.
Yerevan Press Club congratulates the jubilee on the occasion of this significant date and wishes the colleagues further success, stability and prosperity!
