The Civil Contract deputies’ insults against journalists caused a fair protest among my colleagues. But I would suggest not to be too upset because the attitude towards journalism by the authorities and politicians, in general, is generally the same not only in Armenia but in all countries, from the moment when this profession separated from the literature around the 18th century. If we do not go too far as examples, we can remember former US President Donald Trump, who tweeted (until he was blocked), as well as during press conferences and speeches, a couple of “sweet words” to the media that did not like him. This attitude can be summarized in the following formula: “those who do not praise us are sell-outs.” And there are always excuses for insults: “We do not mean everyone. Of course, there are good, honest, professional journalists.” But it quickly turns out that these “good ones” are only their own.
In short, the problem is not only what is being said (because it has been said for almost the same thing for centuries), but also in what context does what is being said appear, why is it being said, and what is behind it. Returning to Trump, let’s note that he did not really have a chance to move from words to deeds. As for us, the context of today’s Armenia is as follows: 1) The National Assembly passes laws against the media one after another, 2) It has already initiated several dozen cases on charges of allegedly “insulting” government officials, 3) The executive power openly interferes in local elections through law enforcement and courts and tries to change the results of these elections if they are not favorable to the government, 4) Efforts are made to get rid of independent judges and replace them with service judges. I suppose that Armenia is approaching an anti-democratic “trend.” It can be said that Armenia is assimilating to the “Eurasian” value system, becoming, so to speak, a “full member of the Putin club.” It is possible that it is done consciously.
Of course, in response to all that, we can say, “What about during the former regime?” But why do we compare ourselves to the bad? Let us compare ourselves to the good and strive for the good.
Aram Abrahamyan
