HOW TO MAINTAIN JOURNALISM ETHICS WHEN OLIGARCHS NOMINATED AS ELECTION CANDIDATES? OPINION

epress.am
04.03.2012

Carefully reviewing the lists of election candidates, journalists have
to violate ethical norms because they have no alternative, said Hetq
Investigative Journalists NGO president, hetq.am chief editor Edik
Baghdasaryan in his speech at a seminar and training for journalists
in Armenia titled “Reliable, Responsible and Balanced Coverage of
the 2012 Parliamentary Elections” organized by the Europe in Law
Association, the OSCE Yerevan office and the US Embassy in Armenia,
taking place in Congress Hotel from Apr. 2-3.

Speaking about journalism ethics during election period, Baghdasaryan
said included on lists of candidates in the upcoming parliamentary
election are those on whom journalists have uncovered various dirt
over the years, people who have engaged in electoral fraud and against
whom criminal cases are even launched.

“And now they tell journalists, you have to maintain journalistic
ethics. How can we observe journalistic ethics when you know everything
about those people? Let me cite some examples: [ruling Republican
Party of Armenia MP, tycoon] Samvel Aleksanyan [pictured] organizes
a pre-election meeting near the Yerevan City [supermarket] in Malatya
[a district in Yerevan]. How should the reporter begin her report? She
has to say (right?) that [Aleksanyan] is a well-known oligarch; he has
six Yerevan City [supermarkets] in the city and is preparing to build
three more; he is the main importer of sugar – the importer of 99%
[of the sugar market]. He sells counterfeit vodka in this Yerevan
City here; he’s been fined five times by the State Commission for the
Protection of Economic Competition; he continues to sell counterfeit
vodka; and most importantly, he is known in public by the name Lfik
Samo. The journalist isn’t expressing any position, she is simply
listing that which is; the journalist is objective, is presenting
the objective facts. I didn’t even say the most important part:
he’s been involved in some criminal activity,” Baghdasaryan said.

As another example, the Hetq Investigative Journalists NGO president
cited Rule of Law (Orinats Yerkir, or OEK) MP Heghine Bisharyan,
stressing that journalists, when referring to her, cannot not say
her closest friend’s assessment of her – “a lioness”.

“Or speaking about [Republican Party of Armenia MP candidate Artashes]
Geghamyan, shouldn’t we say that a few years ago the president called
him a dhole [wild dog]? This is just making facts public, but media
experts can immediately say it’s a breach of ethics. And they do,”
he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress