YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
MARCH 9-15, 2012
HIGHLIGHTS:
YPC PRESENTED RESULTS OF MONITORING ARMENIAN BROADCAST MEDIA COVERAGE AHEAD
OF ELECTIONS TO RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 2012
“FACE OF THE COUNTRY” – PRE-ELECTION DEBATES BETWEEN “DASHNAKTSUTIUN” AND
“PROSPEROUS ARMENIA”
“E-CLUB” CYCLE: INTERNET AND RELIGION
ANOTHER SUIT OF “IRAVUNK” VERSUS REPORT.AM REVOKED
HEARINGS ON CASE OF A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION VERSUS “IRAVUNK” FOUNDER
STARTED
HEAD OF RA BALNEOLOGY CENTER DROPPED LITIGATION AGAINST “ZHOGHOVURD” DAILY
YPC PRESENTED RESULTS OF MONITORING ARMENIAN BROADCAST MEDIA COVERAGE AHEAD
OF ELECTIONS TO RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 2012
On March 14 at Urbat Club YPC presented the results of monitoring Armenian
broadcast media coverage ahead of elections to RA National Assembly 2012.
In the duration of one month – from November 16 to December 15, 2011,
Yerevan Press Club has carried out monitoring of the coverage by Armenian
broadcast media of the activities of Armenian political parties throughout
the period preceding the official pre-election promotion.
SELECTION of the monitoring time was conditioned by the fact that
traditionally non-official election campaign starts in Armenia significantly
earlier than the one month period assigned for pre-election promotion. The
behavior of media, especially TV channels, which have the largest audience,
to a high extent determines the mood of the electorate. Research like this
allows to identify the role of Armenian TV and radio broadcasters in the
political processes, as well as problems existing in the sphere of
regulation of the activities of broadcast media. The current monitoring
helped Yerevan Press Club to prepare better for studying the role of media
on the most active stage of the election campaign, immediately preceding the
day of voting.
The monitoring included 6 national TV channels – First Channel of the Public
Television of Armenia (H1), “Armenia”, “Yerkir Media”, “Kentron”, Second
Armenian TV Channel (H2), “Shant”; one Yerevan TV channel – “Shoghakat”
(this channel was chosen because it is a part of Public TV and Radio Company
and as such has a special mission); as well as Public Radio of Armenia. Main
editions of news programs and main current affairs/discussion programs
broadcast at the evening airtime (18.00-01.00) at the above-mentioned TV and
radio channels were studied.
The object of the monitoring were pieces, which included references to those
14 political parties and movements, which either have expressed their
intention to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections, or
currently hold an active position in the political life of the country.
Connotations of the references to the parties/movements as well as the
airtime allocated to them by the media studied were also recorded. (See the
monitoring methodology in YPC Report, Chapter “General Information on
Monitoring”, at in “Studies” section.)
THROUGHOUT the month of the monitoring the largest amount of attention to
political parties was given by “Kentron” TV channel, its share of the
coverage formed more than a quarter of the respective total airtime of all
programs studied on 8 channels (hereafter for the quantitative results of
the monitoring see the YPC Report tables at in “Studies”
section). It was closely followed by “Yerkir Media” TV channel. In terms of
the airtime amount devoted to the activities of the parties Public Radio
occupied a distant third place. However, Public Radio was the leader with
regard to the frequency of references to the parties. Leadership in this
regard, combined with the relative lagging behind in terms of the coverage
volume, is explained by the fact that the public radio airtime studied
consisted exclusively of news pieces.
“Shoghakat” remained loyal to its profile – a TV channel of spiritual and
cultural orientation. There were no references to political
parties/movements within its programs studied.
“Shoghakat” excluded, “Armenia” and “Shant” channels were the ones that paid
the least attention to internal political processes ahead of the elections,
both in terms of airtime volume and frequency of references.
ACCORDING TO the cumulative indicators of all 8 channels studied, in terms
of media attention leaders were the five parliamentary parties – Republican
Party of Armenia (RPA), “Bargavach Hayastan”/”Prosperous Armenia”,
“Zharangutiun”/”Heritage”, Armenian Revolutionary Federation
“Dashnaktsutiun”, “Orinats Yerkir”, as well as the Armenian National
Congress (ANC); RPA being the obvious leader. Other political forces,
coverage of which was subject of the monitoring, both in terms of airtime
amount and frequency of references, substantially lagged behind “the big
six”. Among those lagging behind was also the People’s Party: the leader of
this party in near past had been also the owner of the “ALM” TV channel,
which gave exclusive attention to this party. But since January 21, 2011
“ALM” stopped broadcasting as a result of one of the digital broadcast
licensing competitions, summed up in December 2010.
Interest towards different political forces, including those that were the
leaders according to the cumulative indicators of all media studied,
significantly varies from channel to channel. Throughout the period of the
monitoring, attention to various political forces from “the big six” was the
most balanced on First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia and in
the programs of Public Radio. At the same time, First Channel practically
ignored all other political parties. Taking into account the cumulative
frequency of references to parties on Public Radio, the interest of this
broadcaster to political forces outside of “the big six” can also be
qualified as minimal. Second Armenian TV Channel in a quite balanced way
distributed its coverage between the five parliamentary parties, but with
regard to other political forces, including ANC, either showed limited
interest or ignored them completely. The approach of “Shant” was even more
selective: on this channel within the programs studied attention was focused
on three parties – RPA, “Prosperous Armenia” and “Heritage”.
On five out of seven studied TV channels, which covered the activities of
political parties, it was RPA that became the leader in terms of references,
moreover on PTA First Channel and on “Armenia” its advantage was substantial
both in terms of references, frequency and the airtime volume. On Second
Armenian TV Channel and on “Shant” the Republicans faced competition from
“Prosperous Armenia”: while it lagged somewhat behind on both channels in
terms of frequency of references, it received almost the same airtime volume
as RPA on Second Armenian TV Channel and, even though slightly, but was
ahead of the Republicans on “Shant” with regard to that indicator. On Public
Radio the closest to RPA, though still far behind, was ANC, both in terms of
references frequency and airtime volume. This, again, can be explained by
the specifics of this channel, which does not have current
affairs/discussion programs and where a news program became the object of
the monitoring: Armenian National Congress provided quite numerous news
occasions for event-based coverage.
On “Kentron” TV channel “Prosperous Armenia” party was in the center of
attention, and on “Yerkir Media” it was ARF “Dashnaktsutiun”. This fact, as
well as the already mentioned situation with the People’s Party and the
closed “ALM”, is another evidence of the advantages in the media coverage
enjoyed by those political forces, which are directly connected to certain
TV channels. Even the Republican Party, which dominates in the government
structures and has numerous leverages of influence upon broadcasters, cannot
compete with these political forces for attention on “their” specific
channels. Both on “Kentron” and on “Yerkir Media” RPA occupied the 2nd
place, significantly lagging behind the leaders. The 3rd place (with regard
to references frequency) on these channels was taken by “Heritage”, probably
as a result of its public activity, both within and outside the parliament.
ABOUT 10% of all references of the channels studied contained a certain
connotation (positive or negative) regarding some political
parties/movements. Based on the experience of similar studies in Armenia and
abroad, it is possible to say that this indicator is traditionally quite
high for the period preceding the pre-election promotion. Thus, the issue of
professional and unbiased coverage of internal political processes is quite
pressing for Armenian broadcasters. At the same time, there were over 5
times more references with positive connotations than those with negative
ones (causes for that will be analyzed below).
>From the point of view of connotational references, the most balanced
(unbiased) coverage of political forces was observed on Public Radio (1.3%
of the total references on the channel). Also the coverage was quite
balanced on “Yerkir Media” (2.7%). Indicator below the above-mentioned 10%
barrier was recorded also on PTA First Channel (7.3%). The highest
percentage of connotational references was registered on “Shant” (28.3%).
The next ones on this scale are Second Armenian TV Channel (22.2%),
“Armenia” (13.4%) and “Kentron” (13.3%). The channels studied in most cases
covered the same events in the internal political life of Armenia, therefore
the nature of coverage was conditioned not by the situation or by the events
of public importance, but by the willingness of the media to abide by
professional principles, and, especially in the case of Armenian
broadcasters, their right to independently determine their editorial policy.
The highest number of connotational references was “collected” by
“Prosperous Armenia”: 43 (or 25.6% of the aggregate number of references to
this party), out of which 42 were positive. The most frequent positive
coverage of “Prosperous Armenia” was on “Kentron” (23 or 36.5% of the total
number of references of the channel to that party). RPA had 21 connotational
references on all channels studied (8.3% of the aggregate number of
references), out of which 19 were positive. The most frequent positive
references to this party were observed on PTA First Channel (7) and on
“Armenia” (6). “Orinats Yerkir” party received 13 positive and no negative
references (15.7% of the aggregate number of references). Thus, these three
parties, which form the ruling coalition, received 74 out of all 76 positive
references recorded in the course of the monitoring on all channels studied.
The overwhelming majority (over 80%) of positive references to “Prosperous
Armenia” were observed in pieces telling about charity acts and events
organized by the party. Almost all positive references to “Orinats Yerkir”
were in news stories about meetings of this party with voters in various
regions of Armenia. In both cases different TV channels showed pieces that
were identical or had very little differences. Based on this fact, it is
possible to suggest that these pieces are not editorial coverage of events,
but hidden political promotion, which is carried out on conditions
contradicting RA legislation. Moreover, such opportunities are mostly
available for pro-government parties. Cases like this raise once again the
issue of deliberately unequal conditions for political parties and the
necessity of clear normative and legal regulation, as well as monitoring of
their implementation not only throughout the short period of pre-election
promotion, but also throughout the non-official election campaign, i.e.,
during the several months before the elections.
Of the opposition parties “Heritage” received 7 connotational references. Of
these 6 were negative, related to the reaction of the RA President Serzh
Sargsian to the appeal by the leader of “Heritage” Raffi Hovannisian to hold
fair elections. ANC received 5 connotational references and all of them were
negative (3 times on “Kentron” and 2 times on Public Radio).
“Dashnaktsutiun” had 1 positive and no negative reference. It is noteworthy
that in the monitored programs of “Yerkir Media” not a single positive
reference to the party was observed, despite the large volume of airtime
allocated to “Dashnaktsutiun”.
A SEPARATE component of the monitoring was the recording of the participants
of programs in “guest-in-studio” format, which was aired on all channels
studied during evening airtime. In general, the choice of the guests was an
evidence of a quite limited interest of the broadcasters to internal
political struggle in the run-up to the elections. The only exception was
“Yerkir-Media”, where politicians, representing different political forces,
regularly appeared in discussion programs. To somewhat lesser extent
attention to internal political issues was given by “Kentron”, which also
presented different positions to the audience, and by PTA First Channel. The
latter showed a certain lack of balance in terms of choice of guests: though
one of the two party representatives invited during the month represented
the opposition (ANC), four acting government ministers, also taking part in
the programs, created relative advantage for pro-government forces.
Programs in “guest-in-studio” format on other channels, including Public
Radio, either did not pay attention to the pre-election internal political
situation, or paid minimal attention.
The full November 16 – December 15, 2011 Report of YPC monitoring of
Armenian broadcast media coverage ahead of parliamentary elections is
available at in “Studies” section.
It should be noted that since March 1 Yerevan Press Club continues
monitoring the coverage of the May 6, 2012 elections to RA National Assembly
by Armenian broadcast media. The study is implemented under YPC project
supported by OSCE Office in Yerevan. The monitoring is conducted within two
stages: the first stage covers the period of March 1-31, 2012 (ahead of
pre-election promotion); the second stage covers the period of April 8 – May
4, 2012 (pre-election promotion).
The video on YPC monitoring results’ presentation, made by “A1+” TV company
on March 14 , 2012, watch here
“FACE OF THE COUNTRY” – PRE-ELECTION DEBATES BETWEEN “DASHNAKTSUTIUN” AND
“PROSPEROUS ARMENIA”
On March 15 the “Yerkri Demky” (“Face of the Country”) cycle of pre-election
debates went on the evening air of “Yerkir Media” TV company. The cycle is
produced by Yerevan Press Club under “Alternative Resources in Media”
project, supported by USAID.
The guests of talk show host YPC President Boris Navasardian were Ara
Nranian, RA National Assembly MP from ARF “Dashnaktsutiun” faction, and Vahe
Enfiajian, RA National Assembly MP from “Prosperous Armenia” faction. The
debates focused on the parties’ electoral lists, taking part in May 6, 2012
parliamentary elections by proportional system, the representativeness of
Armenian Government’s economic policy in parties’ platforms, perspectives of
improving political culture during pre-election campaigns. (For some
technical reasons, the rerun time of this program has shifted to 19.15,
March 19.)
The next “Face of the Country” will be aired on “Yerkir Media” on Thursday,
March 22 at 18.15 (rerun – on Monday, March 26 at 16.15).
Watch the “Face of the Country” of March 15, 2012 here
“E-CLUB” CYCLE: INTERNET AND RELIGION
On March 14 another program of “E-Club” weekly cycle went on the online
broadcast of “A1+” TV company (). The “E-Club” is produced by
Yerevan Press Club in cooperation with “A1+” TV under “Alternative Resources
in Media” project, supported by USAID.
The program was devoted to the visibility of religious organizations in the
Internet: particularly, the first Armenian religious website of the
Araratian Patriarchal Diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church, ,
website of Yerevan Holy Trinity Church, The news bloc of
“E-Club” told about the winners of the international hackers’ competition in
Vancouver, who broke the new Google Chrome 17; the roll out of iPad3; arrest
of some of the Anonymous hacker group members. The ratings of online sources
and headlines of last week were presented by famous Armenian rock singer and
composer Vahan Artsruni. The web sources’ top list was headed by Facebook,
while the most popular topic was the Russian presidential elections.
The next “E-Club” will be aired on “A1+” on Tuesday, March 20 at 15.50
(rerun – on Thursday, March 22 at 18.20).
ANOTHER SUIT OF “IRAVUNK” VERSUS REPORT.AM REVOKED
On March 12 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
administrative districts of Yerevan revoked the suit of Hayk Babukhanian,
Chairman of the Editorial Council of “Iravunk” newspaper, versus founder of
Report.am news portal, “Khmbagir” LLC, and Report.am observer Edik
Andreasian. The subject matter of the suit became the article “When Forcing
the Unpromptable” (stored on Report.am on March 25, 2011) and its’ readers
comments. Along with a refutation on the information, discrediting honor,
dignity and business reputation, Hayk Babukhanian demanded to compensate the
moral damage of 1 million AMD (more than $ 2,500) and the court expenses.
The court hearings on the case started on June 15, 2011.
The court ruling, released on March 12, assessed the lawsuit of Hayk
Babukhanian as unjustified.
This is the second revoked suit of Hayk Babukhanian versus Report.am. On
February 27 the same court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and
Nork-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan had denied the claims of
“Iravunk” Council Chairman regarding the September 1, 2010 piece of
Report.am, “The Right of ‘Iravunk’ on the Edge of Hayk Babukhanian’s Sword”
(see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, February 24 – March 1, 2012).
HEARINGS ON CASE OF A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION VERSUS “IRAVUNK” FOUNDER
STARTED
On March 13 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
administrative districts of Yerevan started hearing the suit of the Armenian
Word of Life Religious Community of Christian Evangelic Church and its Head,
Senior Pastor Artur Simonian versus founder of “Iravunk” newspaper, “Iravunk
Media” LLC. The matter of the suit on protection of honor, dignity and
business reputation became the article and its collage that spoke negatively
about the Word of Life and the Senior Pastor. The piece was published in the
weekly supplement “Iravunk Investigation” of October 19-25, 2011 and was
later reprinted in “Arguments of the Week in Armenia” (published by “Iravunk
Media” LLC). The plaintiff demands to bind the respondent to publish a
refutation and to bring apologies in both newspapers. The suit was taken
into consideration on November 23, 2011.
At the March 13 session the demands of the suit were clarified. The next
session will take place on March 23.
HEAD OF RA BALNEOLOGY CENTER DROPPED LITIGATION AGAINST “ZHOGHOVURD” DAILY
Benik Harutiunian, Director of RA Balneology and Physical Medicine Research
Center, dropped his lawsuit versus founder of “Zhoghovurd” daily, “Editorial
Office of ‘Zhoghovurd’ Daily” LLC. As the March 13 “Zhoghovurd” editorial
piece noted, according to an information released on March 7 by Press
Secretary of RA Minister of Defense David Karapetian on behalf of Benik
Harutiunian (who is also Advisor to RA Minister of Defense, Ed. Note), the
latter one withdrew his lawsuit. The withdrawal was conditioned by the need
of fostering media as a pillar of democracy, “Zhoghovurd” stressed.
As it has been reported, the reason for filing the court of general
jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts of Yerevan
became the piece “The Doctor’s Adventures in the Goldfields”, published in
“Zhoghovurd” on September 9, 2011. The article quoted the US citizen Nuneh
Serobian, who alleged that she had a common business with Benik Harutiunian,
and he refused to return her more than $ 200,000 she had invested. Benik
Harutiunian demanded to oblige the newspaper to refute the information
discrediting his honor and dignity, and pay him off 2,2 mln AMD (about $
5,800), from which 2 mln – as a moral damage compensation and 200,000 –
court costs. The court hearings started on November 29, 2011 (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, November 25 – December 1, 2011).
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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