Armenia: Journalists Dispute Media Survey’s Praise

A recent study found Armenia has the friendliest media environment in the Caucasus and Central Asia, a notoriously tough neighborhood for reporters. But Armenian journalists beg to differ.

In its tenth-annual Media Sustainability Index, IREX, a Washington-based development organization that supports media development initiatives, praised marginal improvements to Armenia’s media environment such as the decriminalization of libel. The country received a score of 2.09 on a 0-4 scale, the best score in the region. By comparison, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, which routinely jail journalists, scored 0.35 and 0.56 respectively.

“The overall score for Armenia showed solid improvement, driven by increases in most of the objectives,” says the report for Europe and Eurasia. “The most remarkable improvement came in Objective 1, freedom of speech, primarily as a result of decriminalization of libel and defamation laws.”

But local journalists say the findings distort reality. Libel may have been decriminalized, they say, but media outlets still face regular harassment in the form of civil suits.

The editor-in-chief of the popular Armenian daily Aravot, Aram Abrahamian, joked that if this report were published on April 1, he would see it as “gentle humor” designed for April Fools’ Day. “But since it was published on an ordinary day, I think that IREX decided to mock us or shock people,” Abrahamian said.

Abrahamian and other journalists found IREX’s praise for the decriminalization of libel particularly puzzling, describing multiple, debilitating civil suits brought by wealthy businesspeople and politicians against critical news outlets.

“Progress is simply out of the question,” said Hayk Gevorgian, editor of the opposition daily Haykakan Zhamanak. In the past year the paper has faced legal persecution and suffered financial losses after being forced to pay damages following civil suits.

A July 19 report by the Yerevan-based Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression said that so far this year, 14 defamation and libel lawsuits were brought against media outlets and journalists – an unprecedented number for Armenia.

In light of such pressure, Ashot Melikian, the committee head, called IREX’s assessment “perplexing.” “There are no serious changes in Armenia,” Melikian said.

“I don’t understand what they mean by saying ‘progress.’” Levon Barseghian, president of the Gyumri Asparez journalist club told EurasiaNet.org. Armenia is “a country where the broadcast media are strongly controlled and half-censored.”

Journalists did find room for agreement, however, on the growing and important role of social media in shaping a freer future for Armenia’s media. The IREX report praises the number and influence of online news sources and the role of citizen journalists.

“Issues raised in online media, blogs, and social networking tools like Facebook or YouTube eventually seep into traditional media coverage, allowing for greater impact,” the report says. “This, however, is no guarantee that these sources are necessarily and predominantly reliable or objective. Freedom in online media brings both wheat and weeds.”

Prominent blogger Samvel Martirosian told EurasiaNet.org that the impact of online media on traditional journalism is profound. In the past, authorities tried to influence television and newspapers, but are now having trouble controlling the flow of information thanks to the Internet.

“I believe traditional media have seen almost no change,” said Martirosian, who is also an information security expert. But “the impact of online media is increasing dramatically."