Public Television’s main issue of the news program did not cover the protests over Amulsar on Friday, August 7, Media Advocate initiative said in a statement.
"On August 7, Public Television’s main issue of the news program did not touch upon the events taking place around Amulsar. Yesterday was the 4th day of the activists’ protests, Amulsar was in the public spotlight all day long, journalists waited for hours along with the protesters for Lydian Armenia representatives to arrive, wagon houses were removed from the area, Jermuk residents joined the protesters. Jermuk mayor, in his turn, stated that Lidian Armenia made a mistake by placing the wagon houses. All media outlets covered the topic yesterday, except for the Public Television," the initiative said.
"The prime minister’s spokesperson was asked why the prime minister did not meet with the protesters, and the latter replied that he is following the events around Amulsar. As far as Petros Ghazaryan’s interview, which, follows the newscast, is concerned, it’s topic of discussion is Beirut blast for 3 days in a row. For two days, Petros Ghazryan held a live program on the events taking place in Beirut. Yesterday he hosted the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan, while the news report already mentioned that he would leave for Beirut to get acquainted with the situation on the spot. The topic of Amulsar, perhaps, is more essential and the Public TV was obliged to present it both in the newscasts and in the framework of Petros Ghazaryan’s program.
"Media Advocate initiative urges the publicly funded TV company to fully present the events of public importance and be guided not by political, but by public interest," the statement read.
