824) Armenia gets mixed reviews from international observers -ijnet

Press Freedom

While there have been relatively few documented attacks on Armenian journalists in recent months, reporting there remains clearly biased, according to a European media watchdog.

Miklos Haraszti, media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), recently paid a three-day visit to Armenia. He said on June 21 that “the coverage of political life still remains one-sided, both in private and public-service broadcasting.”

Although the constitution protects freedom of the press, the government continues to restrict full media freedom in the country, observers say. Most newspapers rely on funds from the government, politically motivated individuals or parties to survive, and objectivity suffers.

Harazsti said that the government needs to speed up media reform in the country, especially in light of parliamentary elections set for next year. He also said that the broadcasting boards need to represent more voices in order to support a diversity of broadcast media and greater objectivity.

OSCE: http://www.osce.org/fom/item_1_19600.html

http://www.ijnet.org/Director.aspx?P=Article&ID=305174&LID=1

28/06/2006