Ray McGovern dragged out of Hillary Clinton "Freedom Speech"

Now that you've seen the video, do you want to know who's the man being dragged out of the room and why?
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ՀԱԿ-ը դատապարտում է հայաստանյան թերթերի դեմ դատական գործերի հարուցումը

Ընդդիմադիր Հայ ազգային կոնգրեսը (ՀԱԿ) միջազգային հանրության ուշադրությունն է հրավիրում Հայաստանում «իշխանության կողմից չվերահսկվող» թերթերի դեմ հարուցված դատական գործերի վրա:
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ԱԺ-ի երեք պատգամավորներ դատի են տվել «Հայկական ժամանակ»-ին

Ազգային ժողովի պատգամավորներ Սամվել Ալեքսանյանը, Լեւոն Սարգսյանը եւ Ռուբեն Հայրապետյանը դատի են տվել «Հայկական ժամանակ» օրաթերթին` պահանջելով հերքել թերթում հոկտեմբերին տեղ գտած հրապարակումներից մեկը:
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Հրկիզել են «Լոռի» հեռուստաընկերության լրագրողի մեքենան

Հունվարի 16-ի գիշերը հրկիզել են «Լոռի» հեռուստաընկերության գլխավոր խմբագիր Նարինե Ավետիսյանին պատկանող ավտոմեքենան: Այն կայանված է եղել շենքի բակում գտնվող ավտոտնակում:

Հունվարի 17-ին Ն.Ավետիսյանն աշխատանքի գնալիս բացել է ավտոտնակի դարբասները եւ մեքենան գտել հրկիզված վիճակում: 

Մեքենայի վրա հայտնաբերվել է այրված լաթի կտոր, որը գցվել է ավտոտնակի վերեւի օդանցքից, որտեղից էլ լցվել է նաեւ հեղուկ վառելանյութ: Այս մասին տեղեկացնում է Հելսինկյան քաղաքացիական ասամբլեայի Վանաձորի գրասենյակը:

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Ընդդիմությանը եթեր տրամադրող «Գալա» հեռուստաընկերությունը հեռարձակման լիցենզիա չստացավ

«ԳԱԼԱ»-ի սեփականատեր Վահան Խաչատրյան

Հեռուստատեսության եւ ռադիոյի ազգային հանձնաժողովը երեքշաբթի օրը հրապարակեց Շիրակի մարզում թվային ցանցի միջոցով հեռարձակում իրականացնելու համար հայտարարված լիցենզավորման մրցույթի արդյունքները: ՀՌԱՀ-ը 14 միավոր գնահատեց Գյումրիի «ԳԱԼԱ» հեռուստաընկերության հայտը, եւ հաճախության համար պայքարում հաղթեց Գյումրիի «Ցայգ» հեռուստաընկերությունը, որի հայտը գնահատվել է 42 միավոր:

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Pashinyan Graffiti hits Yerevan's Walls

Graffiti art depicting imprisoned journalist, chief editor of local daily Haykakan Jamanak ("Armenian Times") Nikol Pashinyan has been seen on the pedestrian underpass near the Chekhov school on Baghramyan Blvd. in central Yerevan.

The graffiti is the work of "Art Laboratoria," al local group of painters and artists. 
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Armenian Media Close to Being Considered 'Not Free'

The Armenian media is on the border of moving from "partly free" to "not free", according to the findings of a sociological study carried out by the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Expression, Aug.–Sept. 2010.

The study was carried out in order to determine the level of freedom that Armenian media possess, taking into account the influence of legal, political, and economic factors.
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Wikileaks Under Attack

PayPal, the popular online payment service has "permanently restricted" the account used in fund-raising efforts by WikiLeaks.

"PayPal has permanently restricted the account used by WikiLeaks due to a violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity. We've notified the account holder of this action," the service said in a statement on its blog Friday.

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UK's blogging Ambassador and VIP blogging in Armenia

Charles Lonsdale, British Ambassador to Armenia has started a blog, which he hopes to use to write about what the Embassy does, as well as "about some of the issues we don’t get to talk about so much in the media."
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GALA TV's equipment broken by Prime Minister's Bodyguard

"GALA" TV's logo

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan's spokesperson has offered an apology and announced that the loss of "GALA" TV company would be compensated, following an incident involving PM's bodyguard and a TV journalist during Sargsyan's September 7 visit to Artik town of Shirak region.

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Armenia's rebel TV goes live again

Armenia’s leading independent television station has officially started live broadcasting through the Internet for the first time in 8 years after being controversially pulled off the air by the authorities.
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Journalism matters - not just to journalists but to everyone

The year started up bad for journalists in Armenia - even worse than the previous year, here's a troubling list of some of the recent events:

1. "...The three-and-a-half year jail sentence handed to the editor of “Zhamanak Yerevan” - Arman Babajanian..." RFE/RL.
   
2. "...The Toyota Prado belonging to Suren Baghdasarian of the “Football Plus” weekly and parked in a garage outside his central Yerevan apartment was completely destroyed by fire..." RFE/RL.
   
3. "...Arson attack on an expensive SUV belonging to Ara Saghatelian, the owner and editor of the “Im Iravunke” weekly..." (The photo and the quotes above all taken from the web site of RFE/RL).

Without going into much discussion as to who, why and how caused all these problems for the Armenian journalists (which was my initial intention when starting this post), I want to call on everyone in the Armenian public, to protect the journalists, even the very bad ones, and especially the good ones, as the authorities are clearly not doing their job of protecting journalists - those people so much necessary to scrutinize power in a democratic system. I could suggest, that on the contrary, the state is incouraging violence against the journalists if I only had facts, but as I don't - I'm not going to say that. I am only going to limit myself to appeal to the public and say: protect the journalists - from everyone, and especially from the state, for who will ask the questions when they're gone?

PS: I visited the newsroom of the Daily Telegraph yesterday and my reaction was WOW! No wonder these journalists are so dedicated to their work - they are a power in UK - real economic, political, social power... whearas fire and jail are the best reward for the best journalists in Armenia. Guess who will be more inclined to provide quality journalism to their readers?

The Armenian media landscape in the pretext of Parliamentary Elections; What is The Armenian Blogosphere? New Media vs. Old Media...

As the authoritarian control of traditional media intensifies in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections, the blogs have an opportunity of filling in the vacuum of providing an “alternative viewpoint” and thus appealing to larger masses of readership. The situation, like always, is not that simple however. Although considerable progress was observed in the Armenian blogosphere during the past year, the blogs remain a niche type of media and with just a couple of exceptions, play no role whatsoever in formulating news agenda and participating in the democratic discourse in the country.

In the meanwhile, the incumbent authorities in Armenia are persistently pressurizing the traditional media, using a combination of hidden economic incentives and tax/legal pressures. The latest point can be illustrated by looking at the ownership and financing patterns of most media outlets in Armenia (some examples: Kentron TV owned by Gaguik Tsarukyan, AR TV by Hrant Vardanyan, H2 TV by Samvel Mayrapetyan), while contrasting that with recent cases against Arman Babajanyan editor of very oppositional newspaper and the newly imposed annual fee for servicing the broadcast frequency brought against Radio Companies, who enjoy a relative degree of economic freedom).

On January 23, at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of January 22-26 in Strasbourg, the Resolution 1532 (2007) on Armenia's honoring of obligations and commitments to CE was adopted, in which PACE stated (“The Assembly expects Armenia to demonstrate its capacity to hold the parliamentary elections in 2007 and the presidential elections in 2008 in accordance with international standards, not least with regard to pluralist, impartial media coverage of the election campaign,”) the importance of holding free and fair parliamentary elections in 2007, presidential elections in 2008, and stressed the importance of ensuring pluralist, impartial media coverage of the election campaign. Further on clause 6.2 of the Resolution notes that “a few months away from forthcoming parliamentary elections, the Assembly attaches special importance to pluralism of the electronic media”, since “equitable access by all political parties” to them is “an absolute prerequisite for the holding of free and fair elections”. On the same note Anthony Godfrey, U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Armenia who "warned today[on January 23rd] in Yerevan that his government would revise the decision to allocate a hefty $236 million in extra aid to Armenia if its authorities fail to hold free and just parliamentary elections, slated for May".

A number of widely recognized organizations have recently posted reports on the state of freedom and democracy in Armenia, in which the country repeatedly ranks among partly free, oppressive towards journalists, etc. (See reports by: Freedom House; Reporters without Borders; Global Integrity).The following conclusion of the Freedom House is especially worth mentioning: “Systematic efforts to control media in countries of the former Soviet Union have intensified in 2006 indicating further erosion of civil liberties.”

In the light of all of the above, it is especially important to observe the development of a new type of media: Blogging in Armenia. The number of well established and regularly updated blogs is more then 30 at this point (see the Armenian blogs list on the right side of this web page for some links), which means that there are more blogs, then there are websites for all other media outlets in the Armenian internet, counting newspapers, news agencies, radios, TV company websites taken together. Unlike the traditional media, blogging operates on the principles of independence, voluntary contribution, and anonymity if necessary, which renders a degree of protection to the authors. It is a form of publishing which is harder to control, and hence at this moment there are no widely recognized blogs in Armenia obviously controlled either by the government or by any other political force.

It is important to note, that according to the report made on December 19, 2006 by International Telecommunication Union the total number of internet users in Armenia makes up 150,000 people and the number is growing (Armenpress, Decembe 19 newsroll). Although a very small percentage of these 150,000 uses internet as their prime source of information (I couldn’t find any statistics, but my most optimistic estimate doesn’t exceed 5%), the online media as a whole have a huge potential readership, which is several times bigger then the circulation of the biggest printed Armenian newspaper (most print newspapers have an average "tirage" of 1000-2500 (don't confuse "tirage" - number of published units with circulation, as circulation in the case of Armenian newspapers is actually much lower then their "number of published copies"), while the biggest newspapers like: Aravot, Haykakan Zhamanak printa little more then 5000 copies daily).

One of the important characteristics of the online media is also its “on-demand” nature, which means, that when there are important events happening the use of online media increases dramatically. To make justice to the traditional media we have to note, that the last feature is obvious for them as well, but for the bloggers the growth is incremental. The example of Armenian writer, journalist Hrant Dink’s murder should be considered here. On the day of Dink’s murder and the days immediately following it the usage of blogs and online newspapers in Armenia doubled and tripled in many cases. This means, that when people are really looking for information they turn to the internet. It was also important to note, that people who had something to say about the tragedy preferred to go to the blogs, as they had the possibility of instantly commenting on the issue, whereas the traditional newspapers do not provide them with such possibilities. They do provide the possibility of writing “letters to editor” type of interaction, but it is clearly not as popular as the commenting feature of blogs and forums.

The following figures are a comparison of blogs vs. traditional media websites in the Armenian internet. The most popular English Language Armenian blog: Oneworld Multimedia for example gets 500 page-views per day at times; while most other English language blogs don’t get more then 50-80 page views per day. This does not include the pages/articles viewed using RSS/Atom XML feeds, which seriously decreases the actual number of page views of the blogs. The situation is rather different in the Russian language Armenian blogs, because they are based on LiveJournal, which enables the users to view other people's blogs inline at their own blog, using the Friends feature, so tracking actual page views is even more problematic.

Although the following comparison is not really compatible, because the concepts of pageviews and visitors are vastly different, the following figures could be looked at: Armenian Rating System Circle.am the most popular Armenian online media: A1plus gets 1700 visits per day on average; ArmeniaNow gets 600 visits on averageand Panorama.am barely passes the 400 ma on average.

Having said all of the above, I seem to have more questions, then answers. So here are some questions for discussion (although my page doesn't really have visitors, so expecting a discussion would be silly, wouldn't it?):

1. What do the bloggers see as their function in the Armenian media landscape? (Perhaps they see no function at all?)

2. What are the potentials for blogging to become an alternative channel for communication and public dialogue? (At this point looks like there are none!)

3. What are obstacles for the development of blogging? (expensive and low quality internet? No money via the Google Adwords?)

4. Why am I asking all this stupid questions? J (‘cause I’m looking for solutions, you see!)