Today it is already evident that the most important issue in Armenia is freedom of speech, and the fact that the change in the law on Television and Radio was postponed for a couple of months should not calm us down. The issue of “Liberty” radio is only one noticeable detail in the reality of things, which can be called, in short, an information blockade. Even the issue of “A1plus” is a small detail if we look at it from the distribution of means of information aspect. Now we have to fight not against the shut-down of “Liberty” or the reopening of “A1plus”, rather it is necessary to reform the information field of Armenia. How can we do that? I will say later, when I will have presented the image of the information field in the period after the parliamentary elections and before the presidential elections.
The most influential channels of Armenia, including “H1” and “H2”, with their nationwide coverage, serve the president and the government, which is the same as serving the ruling Republican Party. The next channel covering the territory of the nation is ALM, which has no conflicts with the president and the government, and in essence belongs to one person and one party. There is tolerance for its existence because it has been tried and proved that Tigran Karapetyan and his people’s party don’t play a major role in the political field. With its huge name, “Alternative News Medium”, the television station may be of help to the authorities when it comes time to close the mouths of Western inspectors, especially since those uninformed inspectors may be surprised that the alternative to the measured campaigns of the authorities are not political ideas and opinions, rather the song and dance of village kids.
Thanks to the spread of satellites, “ARMENIA TV” may also be considered as one of the channels that broadcast outside of Yerevan. As far as I know, the sport programming stations receive and rebroadcast the programs of “ARMENIA”. “ARMENIA” is an example of a television business, and sets the rules of the rating game to other prominent channels. Being a business-oriented organization, “ARMENIA” and its satellites can’t broadcast impartial information or organize discussions that may not please the authorities. The president and the government freely use the services provided by that television station, while the Westerners may consider it a media-business example.
These are the leading channels; then come the channels that play a significant role in the capital city and other cities, including “Yerkir Media”, “Kentron”, “R” and “Shant”.
The first belongs to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which is one of the main actors of the political field and, after becoming the third governmental party as a result of the parliamentary elections, is getting ready to participate with one candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.
The owner of “Kentron” is renowned oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan, who is also chairman of the “Prosperous Armenia” party. “Prosperous Armenia” is the second governmental party in parliament, and part of the ruling coalition. “R” television, if we take into account what spots the staion owner Hrant Vardanyan’s sons have in the political field of Armenia, can serve the Republican Party and the ARF. One of Vardanyan’s sons entered parliament in the ARF list, while the other became a deputy with the consent of the Republican Party. “Shant” is similar to “ARMENIA”, and being business-oriented, it obviously must be pro-government. Out of the radio stations of Armenia, the only station that is heard nationwide is the Public Radio of Armenia, and the authorities are trying to deprive “Liberty” radio from broadcasting on this station. The rest of the radio stations are business/leisure and try not to get into politics. All newspapers put together, be they opposition or pro-government, don’t even have 10% the readership of the audiences of the FM radio or decimeter television channels. Most of the rural areas of Armenia don’t receive papers (even pro-government) for years, and in urban areas people receive two or three papers, but, like a rule of law, the consumers are the local functionaries.
In these conditions, the politicians’ declarations to participate in the upcoming presidential elections are similar to hunting for a bear with an empty hand. In these conditions of media distribution any activist, no matter how charismatic he may be, is condemned to failure. So, before making announcements or forming alliances and camps, those who think they can govern the country must start the fight for making the mass media more national (without foreign influences). We will talk about the methods for struggle and strategy in our next Thursday edition.