Navasardian: There is little change in speech freedom in Armenia

There have been no significant changes concerning freedom of the media and freedom of speech in Armenia as compared with 2013, Chairman of Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardian said today at a press conference on World Press Freedom Day.

According to him, the electronic mass media continue to develop dynamically in Armenia, while the main restriction has to do with the lack of funds.

“The electronic mass media outlets have to use various subsidies, which restricts to some extent reporters’ freedom,” he explained.

Speaking about print media freedom, Navasardian said that the situation here is the same, but the future of print media is quite vague as its audience is gradually declining.

“As regards television, it should be noted that the television companies are controlled by political elite and unable to ensure a diversity of information for full satisfaction of the public’s needs,” he noted.

In his words, the Armenian audience is most interested in international news, whereas international political developments are mainly covered by Russian television channels and for that reason Armenians form their ideas about the ongoing events in the world under the influence of Russian media.

“On the whole, entertainment programs are most dynamically developing ones in Armenia,” Yerevan Press Club chairman said.
When asked if there is a free press in Armenia, Navasardian replied: “I hope so. There are some absolutely independent editorial staffs in Armenia, but these media outlets are not the most successful”.

Commenting on the annual report of Freedom House NGO, Navasardian said Armenia slipped one position as compared with last year, receiving 62 points, which was due to the political situation. He explained that Armenia’s position remained the same regarding the legislation and economic freedoms, while the decline in the country’s ranking was related to the 2013 presidential elections and the statement about Armenia’s entry into the Customs Union as freedom of speech is not among the priorities in Eurasian region.