According to Mesrop Harutyunyan, there are 1 or 2 TV companies that voice views different from the state. According to the “Media Freedom Index in Eastern Partnership Countries” report, among the Eastern Partnership countries, in the first half of 2014, Armenia ranked the fourth. Georgia was on top of the list followed by Moldova and Ukraine. Whereas Armenia is ahead of Azerbaijan and Belarus. In this regard, Aravot.am talked to media expert Mesrop Harutyunyan. He said that he agrees with the estimation given to Armenia. “It cannot be due to legislation, because our legislation is highly provided: there is a certain provision of freedom of expression both by the Constitution and the laws.”
In the nomination of “practice section”, where the maximum score is 1110, Armenia gained 603. Mr. Harutyunyan thinks that this score is in compliance with the current state of the Armenian media. Mesrop Harutyunyan illustrates the cases of violence against the journalists of “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” and “A1+” media or obstructing their work, noting that no criminal proceedings was filed for both cases. “Year by year, we see exertion of pressures on the media by the state and the authorities, and there are lawsuits that lead to deterioration in the state of affairs of the freedom of media.” Referring to nomination of “Internet and New Media” section (in which, Armenia gained 117 points out of the maximum 150), Mesrop Harutyunyan mentioned that explicit and sometimes hidden control tendencies are observed recently.
Mr. Harutyunyan agrees with the scoring given to the Armenian television under the “Media Freedom Index in Eastern Partnership Countries” report (Armenia gained 65 points out of the maximum 150), because he believes that the level of freedom in broadcasting companies of Armenia is very low. “This implies to both public broadcasters and the private broadcasters. There are 1 or 2 channels that may voice views different from the state.”
Ami CHICHAKYAN
