Was it right for Daniel Ioannisyan and the members of his organization to push the RPA teachers to reveal their ‘pre-electoral activities’? There’s not a definite answer for this question. In terms of ethics, it is arguable to call and get information without introducing yourself. I personally don’t advise the journalists of ‘Aravot’ to do such things, because I think there is an element of deception and fraud here.
But on the other, the public interest and importance of this arguable act somehow balance its ugly sides. The recordings of the headmasters give me more information about the morals of schools, the level of intellectual and moral values of the headmasters than the electoral process. But if that main operation is the topic of discussion (since it is a social activity), then I think Daniel’s private life and his relationships with his relatives should not become a subject of discussion. It is a circle where you cannot enter. And the episodes of his personal life do not make Daniel more right or less wrong.
The operator of ‘Shant’ TV’s ‘Dirqerum’ series David Atoyan was constantly in the front line and was filming while putting his life in danger. During one of the shootings, he was injured. Of course, some might like the program, but some might not. I consider it normal for the coworkers to discuss how one should go to a shooting what to wear, what to drive and so on. The abnormal thing, I think, is the discrediting of a young man that is in a hospital and raising the family problems he once had. Again I think it is not anyone’s problem, it should not interest anyone. Because of these problems David is not becoming a better or a worse operator. For me the limits of the public and the private are clear. The 4 stored castle of an authority is not just his own business because no authority in Armenia can build a castle with his salary.
But the family life of an authority or another public person and the relationships he has with his relatives, on the contrary, are his own business and they are not related to the public displays of that certain person.
I’ll have to repeat what I said in the previous article: a person should live the way he wants to, and not the way others make him to or demand from him. The only binding thing is the law of the country.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
