Category: News

Bagdikian’s Long Journey to Journalistic Heights
By Dorothy Bryant Special to the Planet
Berkeley Daily Planet, CA
June 1 2004
The most dramatic story in Ben Bagdikian’s life was not his role in
obtaining, publishing, and reporting on the Pentagon Papers in 1971.
It was a story he was not able to report (until his 1995 memoir
Double Vision) because he was too young–10 days old in 1920–when his
parents and four sisters fled Marash, Armenia, on foot, climbing over
snow-covered mountains to escape the Turks during a great Armenian
genocide.
Thinking the new baby was dead, his father dropped him in order to
catch his mother who had fainted. Ben hit the snow, cried out, and
was picked up again. After more narrow escapes, the family made it to
America when Ben was four months old and settled in Stoneham, Mass.
There his father (who had taught at an American University in Armenia)
became pastor of a Cambridge Armenian Congregational Church.
Despite the loss of his mother to tuberculosis three years later,
Ben says that, compared to immigrants with no contacts, no English,
and few skills, his English-speaking family had a fairly “easy entreé
into middle-class American life,” and he grew up as “an Armenian
overlaid by, of all things, the culture of New England Yankees.”
Although there were family feasts where relatives told stories in
Turkish or Armenian, Ben–a fiercely “American” kid who “always
wished they’d serve hot dogs and stuff like that instead of stuffed
eggplant”–understood neither language. “I picked up a little Turkish
when I was staying with my grandparents, but lost it all. Or thought
I did.”
A few years ago, his wife Marlene and he traveled to Marash.
“One night we found ourselves wandering in a dark and gloomy district
that made me more and more uneasy. We had to get out of there,
but how? I saw a man in a tan uniform–some official or policeman,
I hoped–walked up to him, and out of my mouth came, ‘Can you tell
us how to get a cab?’ In Turkish! I was astonished. Somewhere, back
in my brain, bits of the language still lived.”
The plan was for Ben to become a doctor, but when he graduated from
Clark University (after serving as editor of the college newspaper),
he needed to earn money for medical school. As a pre-med student,
he had to take many chemistry courses. He went to apply for a job
as a chemist. “Come back in an hour.” During that fateful hour, he
wandered into the offices of the Springfield Morning Union, found
that they could use a reporter, and never looked back.
During World War II, he married while serving as a navigator
in the Army Air Corps. He and his wife Betty had two sons, Chris
(1944) and Eric (1951), before their marriage ended. By 1947 he was
working as a reporter and Washington bureau chief for the Providence
Journal-Bulletin. In 1956, he won an Ogden Reed Fellowship for a year
in Europe, then in 1957 took the risky assignment of covering the
Southern Civil Rights scene along with black reporter Jim Rhea. He
left the Journal-Bulletin in 1961 and began freelance reporting. His
first book, In The Midst of Plenty (1964), came out of articles written
after spending time with poor Appalachians, bean pickers in Florida,
old people “warehoused” in Los Angeles, men in flop houses in Chicago.
Later, a similar experience, having himself smuggled into a maximum
security prison as an inmate, led to his book Caged: Eight Prisoners
and their Keepers (1976).
“I was only there two weeks, but I’ll never forget how quickly the
outside world disappears. A depression settles over everyone. Once,
when we were brought out of our cells, I looked into a wall-mirror to
check out who was nearby. I saw a guy I didn’t know. Who was that? It
was me! That look, that careful, dead, expressionless look had already
made me a stranger to myself.”
I asked Ben if such experiences with the poor and the imprisoned led to
his life-long concern for the deprived, the less educated. He nodded.
“And a couple of earlier influences. There was my Uncle Fred, a
mechanic with a great zest for life. He bought me my first ice cream
soda, took me around with him, out of that up-tight world of the
‘preacher’s son.’ That was a terrible burden, everyone watching and
judging to see how ‘good’ I was–and I wasn’t good! Yet within that
uptight world was the deep concern for values. Every night we had a
Bible reading, all together, the family. Sounds dreary, and sometimes
it was. But, you know, after years and years, the theology, the dogma
falls away, and what’s left is ‘Do unto others–‘ and the Beatitudes.
You know, in the ethics class I have at Berkeley, I asked my graduate
students, where they got their sense of right and wrong. And most of
them went back to early religious training–Christian, Jewish, Muslim,
whatever–and they said the same thing, that in adulthood the theology
dropped away, but the moral teachings stayed with them.” Ben laughs.
“Marlene says all that King James Bible reading shows in my writing
style.”
By 1967 Ben was with the Washington Post as assistant managing editor
for national news (1970), where his adventures with the Pentagon
Papers hit the headlines in 1971. “It was a tricky spot to be in. I
was covering the story, but I was instrumental in getting the papers,
so I was part of the story as well. I believe a reporter should stand
outside the story and report it accurately, but in some cases, that’s
not possible. It’s like walking a tightrope.”
Ben has won so many awards that articles about him no longer bother
to list all of them. I asked which were his favorite awards.
“I was part of a group Pulitzer, but what I value more is the Pulitzer
I didn’t get. I was one of two finalists during that fellowship
year 1956-57 in Europe. I had helped cover the Israeli/Egyptian war,
giving the point of view of leaders but also of ordinary citizens on
both sides; that’s what made our reports different. Another award I
value is the Peabody I got in 1951 for criticizing leading TV and radio
commentators. And I treasure the James Madison Award from the American
Library Association, Coalition on Government Information in 1998.”
In 1976 Ben joined the faculty of the UC Graduate School of
Journalism, where he taught until 1991, serving three years as dean
(1985-1988). His major publishing event of those years was The Media
Monopoly in 1983. In that book he described the dangers of media
ownership by only 50 companies. Media Monopoly went into five more
editions–1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2000. Then in January 2004 The New
Media Monopoly came out.
“It wasn’t my idea. The publisher said I had to do a new edition
because so much has changed. So the seventh edition is really 90
percent new. From 50 companies, ownership of media has shrunk to
just five or six. But there’s an even bigger difference. In 1983
each company wanted a monopoly over just one medium–say magazines,
or newspapers, or television. Now, these few companies try to control
all media, so that the TV you watch, the radio, the newspaper, the
magazines, the movies, the books–might all be owned and controlled
by one corporation–Fox or Murdock or Disney. And these companies
promote a far-right slant. What they have managed to do in 25 years is
to shift what used to be called the ‘nutty right’ to the center. And
the left has been pushed off the edge completely.”
Is there hope in the Internet?
“Yes. There’s lots of junk on it, but it’s still an outlet for an
independent with no money but plenty of ingenuity and skill, like
MoveOn.org. It’s not controlled by the corporations. Not yet. But the
FCC, which is supposed to protect independent media, is Bush-appointed,
and not a bit friendly.”
What about print media? Name some of the ones that are holding firm
against the move to the right.
“Well, you know, I think you have to read the New York Times every
day. There’s been a big change in the last five years. It’s not so
wedded to the establishment. And there’s the Nation, the Progressive,
Extra, alternative radio, the New York Review of Books. And it’s a
good idea to read Time and Newsweek, so you get a view of the total
picture most magazine readers are getting–and even those two have
been pretty dismayed at the right lately.” Ben laughs. “I occasionally
look at the National Review too, and the Weekly Standard–I think
you have to know what the right is thinking.”
I asked, what if I work at a full-time job and have a family and
a house to keep up and friends, and a need to relax and watch TV
a little. But I’m determined to squeeze out an hour a day to stay
informed. What should I read?
“Hmmmm. Okay. The Nation, Newsweek, the Progressive. And, of course,
the Berkeley Daily Planet. It’s a really great local paper!”
Lest the reader decide that, in my admiration for Ben, I am buttering
him up inexcusably, let me conclude by telling his dirty little
secret, the revelation of which is sure to infuriate him. Ben is
not his real first name. His mother had him christened Ben-Hur, yes,
after the monumentally schlocky best seller that spawned some even
more tasteless movie spectacles.
“To my knowledge,” Ben murmurs, “it was her only lapse of literary
taste.”
Ben Bagdikian will read from The New Media Monopoly at 7:30 on June
4 at Cody’s Books on Telegraph.

Turkish Daily News
June 1 2004
Minority newspapers in Turkey – Part Two
Nor Marmara – the first Armenian newspaper on the Internet
`We believe that the number of our readers decreases with each death
announcement. Unfortunately, we don’t believe that a birth
announcement will bring us a new reader’
`Today Turkey’s biggest newspapers see minorities through a different
perspective. They feel attracted to them; they are defenders of
minorities against injustice, this pleases us greatly. The Turkish
Daily News is one of the newspapers that has approached minorities
sympathetically’
GUL DEMIR
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
The Nor Marmara newspaper was established in 1940 by well-known
Armenian journalist Suren Samliyan. It was a weekly newspaper
initially but later became a daily because of the people’s intense
interest. Rober Haddeler took over the responsibility for the
newspaper in 1967 and it has now been published as a daily in
Armenian for 63 years. Nor Marmara, which cannot be published on
Sundays due to difficulties created by distribution, has four pages
and is published six days a week.
Rober Haddeler tries to keep Nor Marmara alive despite difficulties
in finding reporters, as well as with printing and advertising,
although the paper does now benefit from today’s technological
opportunities. Haddeler has turned over the day-to-day running of the
newspaper to his elder son Air with his younger son Ayk involved in
the management of the newspaper. Nor Marmara, which publishes a
supplement in Turkish on Fridays for Armenian citizens who cannot
read Armenian and for those who are interested in the life of
Armenians. The main goal of the newspaper is to keep the Armenian
language and culture alive while at the same time informing their
community of the latest news stories, discussing political issues in
Turkey and give snippets of information about the life of Armenians.
Rober Haddeler, who has had 50 to 60 books published so far and who
speaks English, French, Armenian and Turkish, is a graduate of the
Pangalti High School established by “Mihitarist” priests and the
Istanbul University Faculty of Letters Department of Philosophy.
Column articles in Nor Marmara are translated into Turkish by his
daughter-in-law Karolin Haddeler and published in the weekly Turkish
supplement.
TDN: How did you get started in journalism?
HADDELER: Actually, I am a man of letters, I was a writer before
becoming a journalist. I started writing Armenian stories in 1946. As
I am interested in literature, we prepared pages of literature in Nor
Marmara with a few friends between 1946-1967. In 1967, the former
owner of the newspaper Bedros Zobyan went abroad for the education of
his daughter. They asked me to take responsibility for the newspaper
for one or two years. I didn’t want to do it because I thought that
it was difficult to publish an Armenian newspaper in Turkey and I
didn’t want the responsibility, but I accepted it as a favor to my
friend. Because my friend did not return, whether I liked it or not,
I was forced to continue working on the newspaper. I must say that I
enjoyed it and I’ve never regretted it, it’s a pleasure to publish an
Armenian newspaper in Turkey. It makes one feel proud.
TDN: Have the winds of change blowing around Turkey and the world had
an influence on your newspaper?
HADDELER: It is a very big change but unfortunately we see this
change as deterioration. Everything is developing so fast in Turkey
with European standards being adopted. These developments bring many
things to Turkey but cause some minorities and groups to lose
something. Young Armenians are fascinated by Turkish television,
Turkish newspapers and radio. They think that it is unnecessary to
read an Armenian newspaper instead of a Turkish one because they
don’t expect the same thing from a newspaper as we do. Additionally,
we don’t compete against television and the rich Turkish press and we
lose our own readers. Also, our cultural publications don’t enthuse
the younger generation. They seek more popular culture.
Unfortunately, there is a permanent deterioration and decrease in the
number of our readership. I don’t know how long this can continue.
TDN: A decrease in the number of readers means a decrease in
circulation. What is the reason of this decrease?
HADDELER: When I took over responsibility for the newspaper, it had a
circulation of 3,500-4,000. It remained at this level for a long
time. In the last five-to-six years there has been a significant
decrease and today we have a circulation of below 2,000. However,
these figures are not important to us because 60 percent of our
newspapers are sent to relatives living abroad after being read by
our readers in Istanbul. They pass from hand to hand there. There is
one reason for the decrease in our circulation; the fact that
Armenian citizens living in Istanbul can’t read the Armenian language
or don’t want to read it. Generally, the number of those who want to
read in Armenian is very high but they can’t because of problems
caused by the Armenian alphabet. That’s why they read Turkish
newspapers. Additionally, for the first time in five years an
Armenian newspaper has been published on the Internet. We can make
our voice heard all over the world.
TDN: What is the most difficult thing in publishing the newspaper?
HADDELER: Although all the minorites have similar problems, the
Armenians have difficulty because they have a unique alphabet. It is
the richest and the most difficult one among the world’s alphabets.
If the young generation don’t wish to learn it then it is very
difficult for teach them. Teachers in the 15-18 schools of our
communty encounter lots of difficulties in teaching Armenian. We
believe that the number of our readers decreases with each death
announcement. Unfortunately, we don’t believe that a birth
announcement will bring us a new reader. In recent years there has
been a search for identity among people in the 20-30 year age group
but this does not overcome our difficulties. It is difficult enough
to find a reporter, and yet even if we do so, can he or she write in
Armenian?
TDN: Some laws relating to minorities living in Turkey were amended
in the EU adaptation process. As a journalist, you must know the
problems of your community. What are these problems?
HADDELER: Unfortunately, our community does have some problems. We
have called the state’s attention to these difficulties via our
patriarch and the managers of our community. We expect solutions. I
can say that today’s government is tolerant towards these issues. In
the EU adaptation process, important laws relating to property
acquisition were made, but none of these laws were put into effect.
Our community’s demands relating to property acquisition have yet to
be fulfilled, but even if they are fulfilled they cannot be put into
practice. We remain hopeful and believe these issues will be
resolved, and when they are resolved, Turkey won’t lose anything,
only win, because people abroad attach great importance to
unimportant things. We don’t think about applying to places like the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). We believe that such methods
will overshadow our citizenship. We prefer to overcome these
difficulties with our own state. We believe that they can easily be
overcome but they continue because of reasons that we don’t
understand. I can list these difficulties; Minority foundations are
not given the possibility of surviving. Many rights given to Turkish
foundations are not given to minority foundations. We have 30
churches today but if we want to build a 31st church we can’t do it,
so we have to forget about building a new church, we can’t even add a
storey to one of the properties of our churches or construct a
building on empty land belonging to one of our churches in order to
obtain income. This is one of the biggest problems for us.
Additionally, when rich citizens want to donate some of their
property to their own foundation it is not accepted, they have to
sell their property and give the money to their foundation. You know
that money and property are different things, money is quickly used
up, but property remains permanent.
Besides this, we hold two kinds of elections every four to five years
to elect the administrators of our community. We have some problems
regarding these elections. For example, it is a condition that
candidates and electors must be from the same district but we have
churches in some districts where no Armenians live. Who will take
responsibility for these beautiful treasures that helps to create
Turkey’s richness? We have many problems such as this.
TDN: When you compare the past and present, what has changed in the
attitude of the Turkish press towards minorities?
HADDELER: Unfortunately, the minorities received three or four blows
during the period of the Republic. First, among minorities only men
above 20 were enlisted during the war. This was an unforgettable
event for us because many families ran into difficulties and
dispersed. Later, the Wealth Tax was imposed causing many Armenians
to become very poor followed by the September 6-7 [1955] events. I
experienced it and still don’t understand how it was done. If the
target was only Greeks, why were other minorities chosen as a target?
Their properties and wealth were plundered. Because of this event
many friends left Turkey within a year or two. This caused our
community and Turkey to lose many things. All these things may be
seen as the necessities of politics at the time.
Today the press’ attitude towards minorities is sympathetic, the
turkish press did not feel so attracted to minorities in the past.
For example, when an Armenian was found guilty of a crime it was
stressed over and over again in the press. There was enmity. Today,
Turkey’s biggest newspapers see minorities through a different
perspective. They feel attracted to them; they are defenders of
minorities against injustice, this pleases us greatly. The Turkish
Daily News is one of the newspapers which has approached the
minorities sympathetically. When I met you, its Istanbul office
representative, I felt better. I said that we would see love if there
were such friends in Turkish press. The Armenian press abroad closely
follows the Turkish Daily News because it is accepted as one of the
newspapers reporting events the best.
TDN: Does Nor Marmara newspaper have future plans?
HADDELER: In my opinion we publish a high-quality newspaper. We have
no future projects because we just think about tomorrow. We don’t
have the opportunity to think ahead a few years. We let sleeping dogs
lie. Let’s see how the life of our community will go on. Maybe we can
publish our Turkish newspaper two to three days a week while
publishing our Armenian newspaper. Maybe we can publish a separate
Turkish newspaper. But is an advantage for Turkey that a newspaper
like Nor Marmara is published in Turkey. We are admired by all people
who like Turkey or not, they are astonished, exclaiming, “Such a
newspaper is published in Turkey!” People in Diaspora are interested
in Turkey the most. This makes us work harder. If the Armenian
community living abroad is taken into consideration, we are one of
the factors that reflects Turkey’s image best. Nor Marmara newspaper
is the one which is sought and read most. It is said, “It is true if
the Marmara newspaper writes it.”

JAVAKHK TO SEE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS IF SAAKASHVILI KEEPS HIS VOWS
ArmenPress
June 1 2004
TBILISI, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS: Traveling from Armenian-populated
Georgia’s region of Javakhk to the capital city of Tbilisi will become
a pleasure if president Mikhail Saakashvili keeps his vow to earmark
some $100 million of an overall $400 million aid, Georgia expects to
receive from the US government and IMF to improve its infrastructures,
for a major rehabilitation of existing and construction of new roads
in the region.
At any case, an Armenian member of the Georgian parliament, Van
Bayburdian, told Armenpress that the road to Tbilisi will become 100
km shorter if a new road is constructed. “If this happens the new
road will have a drastically positive effect on the region and its
population,” he said.
Bayburdian said president Saakashvili had underscored, during his
recent meetings with heads of international lending organizations,
the need for investing in Javakhk to ease employment problems there.
The lawmaker said overseas investments in the region may urge
Russia-based wealthy businessmen of Armenian origin to direct part
of their investments to Javakhk.
Bayburdian also shrugged off demands of several local ethnic Armenian
organizations that the region must be granted autonomy. “There is
already autonomy in the region, though it is not formalized, as it is
run by local cadres, the majority of whom are ethnic Armenians and who
after all have to decide how to make the region prosperous,” he said.
Bayburdian said five Armenian members of the Georgian parliament have
been facing no obstacles in raising issues of concern for the region.
From: Baghdasarian

PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN CONGRATULATES CHILDREN
ArmenPress
June 1 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS: Parliament chairman Arthur Baghdasarian
met today with human rights protector Larissa Alaverdian, the
representative of UN Children’s Fund in Armenia Naira Avetisian and
children from Huysi Kamurj (Bridge of Hope) organization to convey
his congratulations and best wishes to the latter on the occasion of
the International Children’s Day.
He then answered the children’s questions encompassing a wide range
of issues. He also gave presents to them. The day was marked today
in Armenia by a variety of events.
Out of an estimated 110,000-disabled people in Armenia, 8,400 are
children. According to official statistics, there are over 12,000
children living in children’s homes in Armenia . Most are able-bodied
and the majority have parents.

Armenian paper says president plans to dissolve parliament
Azg, Yerevan
1 Jun 04
Text of Tatul Akopyan’s report by the Armenian newspaper Azg on 1
June entitled “Robert Kocharyan will possibly dissolve parliament”
1 June: According to a source close to Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan, the latter intends to dissolve the National Assembly. Under
Article 63 of the Armenian Constitution, the president of the republic
has the power to dissolve the parliament and to call extraordinary
parliamentary elections.
Incidentally, our source said that Kocharyan might dissolve the
parliament in the summer before the autumn session. The president’s
intention to dissolve the parliament can be explained by two main
reasons: first a parliamentary crisis, with the opposition boycotting
the Armenian parliament’s work, and second, falsifications during
the 2003 elections. This is why the West and international judicial
and democratic organizations are putting pressure on Armenia, and
our country’s authority in the eyes of the world community has fallen.
In fact, during his tenure President Kocharyan may try to arrange at
least one election which will be more or less fair according to the
results of which it will be possible to hand over the power to his
“chosen successor”.

Paes-Martina crash out
The Indian Express
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Leander Paes’ stay at Paris ended with his loss in the mixed
doubles. Paes playing alongside Martina Navratilova lost in the second
round to Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia and Lucas Arnold of Argentina
7-5, 7-5.
But third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi of Belarus scored
a clinical 6-3, 6-4 win over Karsten Braasch of Germany and Sargis
Sargsian of Armenia to book a berth in the men’s doubles semifinals
at the French Open.
In the boys’ singles, Tushar Liberhan upset 10th seed Woong-Sun Jun
of Korea 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round. Karan Rastogi,
the 12th seed, went down to Martin Fisher of Austria 2-6, 6-1, 3-6. —
(Agencies)

Minister says Azerbaijan, Armenia exchanging views on Karabakh
MPA news agency
1 Jun 04
Baku, 1 June: The third meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers will take place in Prague on 21 June.
According to MPA, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov thinks
it is early to speak about a rapprochement between the positions of
the sides. Commenting on the course of talks between the Azerbaijani
and Armenian foreign ministers, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said
that the sides were exchanging views. According to him, Azerbaijan
is putting forward its ideas and is listening to those suggested
by Armenia. The [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen also have certain
ideas. Mammadyarov believes that if they manage to properly arrange
these ideas, then they can move on.
Stressing the role of the European Union in the conflict settlement,
Minister Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan supported the idea of keeping
the Karabakh issue on the agenda of the EU and the European community.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian opposition leader says “prominent” activists arrested
Noyan Tapan news agency
1 Jun 04
Yerevan, 1 June: The secretary of the National Unity Party’s
territorial organization, Simon Amirkhanyan, and his colleague,
Razmik Kchoyan, were arrested in the town of Gavar in Gegarkunik
Region on 31 May, chairman of the party Artashes Gegamyan said.
According to him, they are being blamed for telling people of
Gavar District, in particular, in the villages of Karmir, Gandzak
and Sarukhan and the town of Gavar about a meeting of MPs from the
National Unity faction with their voters scheduled for 2 June.
According to Gegamyan, [Armenian President] Robert Kocharyan is behind
the arrests. He said that by this move Kocharyan wanted to show to the
Orinats Yerkir [Law-Governed Country] Party and its leader that though
the marzapet [head] of Gegarkunik was one of the prominent members of
the Orinats Yerkir Party, however, this was of no significance to him.
Gegamyan has not yet reported the arrests to Jerzy Jaskiernia [PACE’s
co-rapporteur on Armenia], because he believes that “we should resolve
our domestic problems within the country and appeal to the Council
of Europe only in case of obstacles”.

New Armenian TV chief outlines future plans
Yerkir web site
1 Jun 04
on 1 June entitled “Yerkir-Media on the air”
Yerevan, 31 May: On 28 May Yerkir-Media, a new television station,
began to broadcast on channel 56, Rubina Kazaryan, Yerkir-Media’s
director-general, presented the plans of the station.
She said the station will air its programmes on a trial basis for a
while before starting its main programmes. “Usually, a long trial
period precedes the main programming of a TV station,” Kazaryan
said. “But, we started a news broadcast off on 28 May. What we did
was quite risky.”
On the first day on the air, the station showed programmes dedicated
to the first Armenian Republic. The day was concluded by the movie
“Nahapet”.
During the trial period, the company will broadcast news programmes
twice a day. The broadcast license, the company won in a tender late
last year, requires that Yerkir-Media broadcast 18 hours a day starting
from 20 June. Kazaryan says that the company will have a wide range
of programmes to satisfy every viewer.
Political shows will take an extensive part of the air. Every two hours
there will be newscasts to cover domestic and international affairs,
as well as weekly analytical programmes. “We are going to present
pure news which will be free of comment,” Kazaryan says. “Commentary
will be presented in separate shows.”
The station will begin its day early in the morning with domestic and
international news, press reviews and shows for housewives. There
will also be history programs on Artsakh [Karabakh], Eastern
and Western Armenia. Zori Balayan will host programmes about on
Karabakh. Programmes on Armenia’s monuments and prominent figures in
history will also be shown. The station will also air youth shows.
Besides, Kazaryan says, the station plans to prepare three programmes
on the issues that society faces, including one on consumers’
rights. There will also be educational shows, including those on
environmental issues. Children will also have their share.
A programme on Armenian regions will cover events there as “Armenia
does not begin and end with Yerevan”, according to Kazaryan. “We
have reached agreements with regional TV stations.” Yerkir-Media
will present a number of cultural programmes on theatres, museums,
etc. Kazaryan said that Yerkir-Media will not air pirated movies.
The station signed a five-year contract with Armenfilm and a number of
Moscow-based companies which sell licenses for films. The station’s
board decided not to show “silly” soap operas. “We might lose out
financially, but we would rather show more good quality films,”
she said, adding that preference will be given to documentaries.
The station has been cooperating with five TV and radio companies
run by the Armenian diaspora, and will exchange shows with them.
“We started broadcasting on 28 May, but we have already shown
that we have something new to say,” Kazaryan said. “We will be
unbiased. There are TV stations that serve the interests of various
groups or individuals.”
In 2005, Yerkir-Media will be on the air for 24 hours a day
broadcasting throughout Armenia and its diaspora.

Lawyer to Stars Leads Peterson Defense
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
Newsday.com
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
May 31, 2004, 2:52 PM EDT
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The attorney who is Scott Peterson’s best
hope of not being convicted of murdering his pregnant wife and their
fetus is a lawyer to the stars, a man who charms jurors, attorneys
and judges with an easygoing style. Mark Geragos says he is committed
to fighting for underdogs.
“The whole idea … is to defend people and to fight for their rights
and their liberties,” Geragos said.
Geragos has said police and prosecutors did all they could to convict
Peterson in the court of public opinion before a gag order was imposed
on the case.
That’s one reason why he is so chummy with reporters, in stark contrast
to prosecutors in the case. “What drives me just crazy is when I think
that somebody is getting a raw deal,” he explained in an interview.
Geragos gained public attention after he secured an acquittal for
Whitewater figure Susan McDougal and took on the cases of actress
Winona Ryder and former congressman Gary Condit.
Beyond the cameras’ glare, Geragos is committed to his job, his family
and his Armenian-American culture.
“Being Armenian and having all four of my grandparents who fled
genocide, I have a great and deep and abiding appreciation for what
it’s like to be the subject of tyranny,” Geragos said.
One of his proudest achievements is a settlement in January that
went mostly unnoticed. The descendants of some 1.5 million Armenians
who were killed nearly 90 years ago in the Turkish Ottoman Empire
will share in a $20 million settlement for unpaid life insurance
benefits. The class action took four years of work.
Married with two children, Geragos, 46, is managing partner of a Los
Angeles law firm that includes his father and brother.
He had been defending both Peterson and Michael Jackson, until the
pop star complained his child molestation defense wasn’t getting
enough attention. Geragos shrugged off his firing, saying only that
“I truly, truly wish him well and am hopeful for a favorable outcome
for Michael.”
Geragos has lost his share of cases, but even the best lose some, said
Shepard Kopp, a lawyer at his firm. “That’s the ultimate challenge. As
a trial lawyer, you take cases that appear to be unwinnable and you
find a way to win.”
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press