YEREVAN PRESS CLUB CELEBRATED ITS 15th ANNIVERSARY
On July 18 was the 15th anniversary since the foundation of Yerevan Press Club. On this occasion on July 19 at “Gusan” cafe in Yerevan the YPC Annual Award Ceremony was held. The Award was established in 1998 and is conferred to the best journalists and media organizations of Armenia (see https://www.ypc.am in “Awards” Section).
YPC Annual Award winners in 2009-2010 are:
Siranuysh PAPIAN – for thematic diversity and pluralism in interviews published in Lragir.am news portal. The Award was given by Boris Navasardian, President of Yerevan Press Club.
Harutyun AYVAZIAN – for loyalty to esthetic values on musical radio air. The prize was handed to Harutyun Ayvazian by Elina Poghosbekian, Chief Editor of YPC Weekly Newsletter.
Zaven KHACHIKIAN – for the book-album “543210”. Zaven Khachikian received the Award after Ruben Mangasarian, famous photojournalist, one of the YPC founders, who untimely passed away. The prize was given by the brother of Ruben Mangasarian, Tigran Mangasarian, Director of “Patker” photo agency. Zaven Khachikian was also granted a memorial gift from Ashot Gazazian, Armenian correspondent of “Deutsche Welle” radio station.
WORKING MEETING ON THE ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI PROJECT
On July 14-17 in Bazaleti, Georgia, a working meeting on the project “Ensuring Public Awareness on Regional Developments” was held. The project is implemented by Yerevan Press Club and “Yeni Nesil” Journalists Union of Azerbaijan with the assistance of Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
The reports of “Yeni Nesil” Chairman Arif Aliyev and YPC President Boris Navasardian regarded the general situation and the new trends in the media of the two countries, as well as the influence of these factors on covering regional issues. The findings of monitoring the media coverage of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations were presented to the meeting participants by the research coordinators, Elina Poghosbekian and Nailya Aliyeva. The study was administered simultaneously in Armenia and Azerbaijan by a single methodology, within the same time intervals (May 17 – June 30, 2010) and covered 12 media from each country. The presentations of Mekhti Sadikhov, Candidate of Philosophy, politologist, and sociologist Hakob Hakobian dealt with the round tables organized in Baku and Yerevan. The round tables aimed to reveal the expectations of the expert community regarding the media coverage of Armenian-Azerbaijani ties. YPC President Boris Navasardian and politologist, Doctor Rasim Musabekov introduced to the comparative analysis of the monitoring findings and round tables. On the last day the partner organizations discussed the further plans, envisaged by the project: the upcoming conference in September in Turkey, seminars for journalists and the publication of a book on the results of the studies made.
COMPETITIONS ON DIGITAL BROADCAST LICENSING ANNOUNCED
On July 20 the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) announced 18 competitions of broadcast licensing on the digital network. Such competitions are held in Armenia for the first time and are stipulated by the digital switchover from analogue broadcasting. For the same reason a two-year moratorium on holding broadcast licensing competitions was introduced in September, 2008. The term of the moratorium expired on July 20, 2010. On June 10, 2010 RA National Assembly adopted the amendments to the RA Law “On Television and Radio”, which were also justified by the need for preparing for digital transition. All the legislative changes were strictly criticized by journalistic and international organizations, which persistently noted that such a reform does not solve the key issues of the broadcast sphere and does not ensure pluralism of the TV air.
The competitions, announced on July 20, provide for licensing of: 6 national TV channels (five are of general profile, one – for rebroadcasting), 9 TV channels in Yerevan (each for – entertainment; youth; music; youth-educational/scientific; current affairs; general profile, and three – for rebroadcasting), 3 regional TV channels (all are of general profile). Nevertheless, it is not specified what are the regions considered.
The competition bids will be submitted within October 10-20, 2010. On October 22 the lists of the applicants will be placed on the website of NCTR, as well as the date and the time for presenting the bids at the NCTR session. The winners of the competitions will be determined on December 16, 2010.
The Procedure for Holding Digital Broadcast Licensing Competitions was approved by the NCTR on June 28, 2010 in line with the amended Law “On Television and Radio”. According to the Procedure, NCTR members determine the winners of the competitions by an open rating vote, assessing the bids at 10 points scale. Point 18 of the Procedure stipulates that the NCTR decisions, regarding the winners, are released right after they are rendered. The next Point prescribes that NCTR provides the applicants with “a duly justified and well-reasoned decision” in ten days.
N.B. Dear readers, please note that YPC Weekly Newsletter will next be issued in early September, 2010.
