On 28 November, the closing ceremony of the European Media Facility in Armenia took place in Yerevan, along with the award ceremony of journalism students who completed their internships at Factor TV.
The project was implemented by DW Akademie, in partnership with BBC Media Action, the Democracy Development Foundation (DDF), Hetq and Factor TV, and with support of the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Over the course of the project, the partnership aimed to strengthen the Armenian media field, promoting verified and fact-checked news in a democratic society. Project partners worked directly with national and regional media outlets, media managers, individual journalists, fact checkers, and journalism students.
Throughout the project, the Democracy Development Foundation, BBC Media Action and DW Akademie conducted a series of seminars, workshops, and consultations for regional media on covering emergency situations, discrimination, corruption, security and environmental issues, and a number of other sensitive topics.
Frank Hess, Head of Cooperation of the European Union in Armenia, said at the ceremony that the project had delivered impressive results: “The European support for this media project has been more than just a financial investment. It has been a shared commitment to the principles of democracy, transparency, and its central role of media shaping society. So, when this project concludes, the responsibility falls on all of us to ensure that the Armenian media sector continues to grow and to adapt.”
At the closing ceremony, project partners awarded those students who completed the two last cohorts of internships hosted by Factor TV in cooperation with DW Akademie and BBC Media Action. They included six three-month internship cycles, 37 pitches, 115 publications and more than 40 masterclasses from leading representatives of the media sphere.
“The internship was one of the first big and serious professional steps in this field for me. Perhaps I wouldn’t be involved in journalism if I didn’t participate in the internship at Factor TV,” said Elen Mikayelyan, an internship participant.
