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ARMENIA
The Constitution
provides for freedom of speech and the press. The
Government generally respects freedom of speech.
There are some limits on freedom of the press.
There is no official censorship, publications present a
variety of views, and the opposition press regularly
criticizes government policies and leaders, including the
President, on sensitive issues such as the Nagorno
Karabakh peace process.
However, to
avoid retribution experienced in years past on the part
of powerful officials and other individuals, journalists
practice self-censorship, particularly in reporting on
major corruption or national security issues. There
were no reported incidents of retribution during the
year, but journalists remain cautious in their reporting
and the range of subjects considered sensitive for
national security is relatively large.
Newspapers, with
the exception of Hayastani Hanrapetutyun and Respublica
Armenia (both joint ventures between Parliament and their
staffs), are privately owned. The state printing
house and distribution agency both now function as
commercial enterprises, with no visible government
intervention.
In September
Parliament dismissed Editor in Chief Lisa Chagaryan, of
the parliament-funded newspaper Hayastani Hanrapetutyun
for “perpetual distortion and incorrect coverage of
the activities of Parliament, lowering its
prestige.” After brief protests by the staff,
which asserted its right to participate in management
decisions, publication resumed under a new editor.
Newspapers
operate with extremely limited resources, and none are
completely independent of patronage from economic or
political interest groups or individuals. Total
newspaper circulation is small, about one copy per 100
persons. During the year, the state-owned newspaper
printing and distribution companies were privatized,
except for a small government stake. There were no
complaints of government pressure on news media.
During the year,
the state institutions that had tended previously to
exert control over the media lost most of their
functions. The Department of Information, created
in 1997 to replace the disbanded Ministry of Information,
continued to exist, but with no clear purpose beyond
allocating small government subsidies to newspapers and
occasionally interceding with the state-owned newspaper
distribution agency to forward a share of its receipts to
the newspapers. A board created in late 1997 with
representatives from the President’s Office,
Government, and Parliament, to supervise the
transformation into commercial enterprises of the
state-owned press agency, printing and newspaper
distribution was not active during the year.
However, the President’s Office continued to
influence state television news coverage.
The ARF
newspaper Yerkir, which the Government shut down in 1994,
reopened. The Dashnaks also print Hayots Ashkhar
and other smaller periodicals. They are not
restricted from opening other media.
The two most widely available television channels
belong to state television and take policy guidance from
the Government; presenting mostly factual reporting, they
avoid editorial commentary or criticism of official
actions. During the March elections, they showed
substantial bias in favor of Acting President
Kocharian. The state television news service was
reorganized extensively and renamed in October after
complaints about poor quality programming. In
Yerevan and major regional media markets, private
television stations now offer independent news coverage
of good technical quality. Most radio stations are
private. Opposition parties and politicians
received adequate news coverage and access on these
channels. Legislation has not been passed yet to
regulate the current arbitrary and nontransparent process
of license issuance. Draft broadcast and media
laws, the subject of intensive discussion among
journalists, were revised extensively but had not been
discussed by the full Parliament at year’s
end. One new measure announced in the fall, a
doubling in licensing fees for television broadcasters,
was expected to have a serious effect on struggling
private stations; these stations appealed for the
measure’s cancellation. The few international
newspapers and magazines imported are not censored.
There are no restrictions on reception of satellite
television and other foreign media and this material is
not censored.
The Government
partially respects academic freedom. There are more
than 50 private institutions of higher education.
The Ministry of Education must approve the curriculum of
all schools that grant degrees recognized by the State,
seriously limiting the freedom of individual schools and
teachers in their choice of textbooks and course
material.
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