Edik Baghdasaryan, one of the best journalists in Armenia, head of one of the few reputable and qualified media “Hetq”, expressed his disappointment with the Armenian mass media and the media field, noting, of course, the existing defects. Nevertheless, I do not accept desperate and extreme conclusion, the reporter has nothing to do, I want to shut down the “Hetq” and so on. I am against presenting the situation in any field unduly dramatic: particularly in this case, it seems to me that what can be done should be done. The conditions for it, of course, are far from being ideal, but, as we know, everything is relative. Journalists, like writers, composers, artists, were working both during Brezhnev and Stalin period, and no one can say that their entire legacy created in the condition of severe censorship and ideological coercion is garbage and deserves to be forgotten. Every time has its problems and difficulties, and such people like Edik should always have their place and what to say.
I assume Armenia is not the only country in the world where the rich people and the authorities are using the media for various manipulations to the public. I think that we are not also unique, in the sense that in the last 4-5 years “media” appeared in the Internet, which, in fact, are not as such: they either “copy” the materials from true media, or invent rumors to stir interest, often within the same manipulation.
What can be opposed to it? Fighting for or against something? I think, no, because, in this case also, the probability to participate in promotional game is great. When someone crosses the street under the red light, do you fight against it? No, you are wittily waiting for the green light for you to cross the street, no matter how your clever fellow citizens perceive you as a naive man cut off from life. If these “agile” want to die, it’s up to them. So in this case; let’s do our job within the limits of the opportunities that are given to us, thus, eventually expanding those opportunities. It may sound modest and non-pretentious. Those pretentious are already the Deputies of the National Assembly.
… I’m sure that Edik’s despair is temporary, it happens to all of us, and he will refuse the intension of ever shutting down the “Hetq”.
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ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
