STATEMENT OF YEREVAN PRESS CLUB ON THE SITUATION IN NTV COMPANY
On April 4 Yerevan Press Club made a statement in defense of Russian NTV Company:
“Journalists have a special viewpoint regarding the situation in NTV Company. Whatever good intentions are declared by the authorities, “protecting” the rights and economic interests of shareholders and investors, everything in reality focuses on taming the Word believed by millions of people. This happens not only in Russia but in all post-Soviet countries. For this reason journalists cannot step aside when an attempt is made to shut up their colleagues.
Yerevan Press Club expresses its solidarity with the journalist crew of NTV – a quality TV Company that enjoys respect among Armenian viewers, too.
We call upon every one involved in decision making to have common sense.
We hope that this conflict, doing no honor to the State, will be ended with no damage made to the freedom of expression.
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
Yerevan, April 4, 2001”
THE FIRST MEETING IN YEREVAN COMPLETED
On March 30 – April 2 in Yerevan the meeting of journalists from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Mountainous Karabagh was held. The meeting was organized under the project “Karabagh Conflict in the Mirror of Media and Public Opinion in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Mountainous Karabagh”, implemented by three professional associations – Yerevan, Baku and Stepanakert Press Clubs with the support of the Open Society Institute Network Media Program. Launched on February 1, 2001 and scheduled for a year’s duration, this program is aimed at discovering the attitudes of mass media, opinions of the public and decision makers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Mountainous Karabagh on the resolution of Karabagh conflict (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, February 3-9, 2001).
The meeting held in Yerevan was the first of the three, scheduled by the project (the other two meetings are to be conducted in Baku and Stepanakert). The participants – journalists and experts in media researches – discussed the results of the first (March) stage of monitoring of the leading Armenian, Azerbaijan and Karabagh media, as well as specified the methodology for polling the public and decision makers in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Mountainous Karabagh.
“SNARK” NEWS AGENCY CELEBRATED ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY
On March 31 the independent “SNARK” news agency celebrated its tenth anniversary. The agency received congratulation addresses from the RA President Robert Kocharian, the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanian, the President of Mountainous Karabagh Arkady Ghukasian, representatives of diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations, major Russian companies, and also from the constant partner of “SNARK”, “Turan” news agency from Azerbaijan.
“SNARK” was founded in 1991 by a group of journalists writing in the Russian language who were employed by the state news agency “Armenpress”. It is one of the first independent news agencies in Armenia and South Caucasus. The main specialization of the agency is the political and economic situation in Armenia, Mountainous Karabagh and South Caucasus in general. Besides daily news (in the Armenian, Russian and English languages), “SNARK” produces weekly and monthly information and analysis newsletters on economy and politics, provides information on Armenian banks, the situation in the energy system of CIS and South Caucasus, tells the world about events in North and South Caucasus, etc.
As Yerevan Press Club was told by the Director of “SNARK” news agency Emmanuil Mkrtchian, if we want to develop the information market of Armenia, we must first of all improve the professionalism of journalists: “The establishment of “SNARK” journalistic school is not only our priority task, but also a guarantee of our longevity.”
Yerevan Press Club congratulates “SNARK” agency on the 10th anniversary and wishes it further success and prosperity.
