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BAKU: OSCE promotes media self-regulation in Armenia

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  • BAKU: OSCE promotes media self-regulation in Armenia

    Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
    March 16 2007


    OSCE promotes media self-regulation in Armenia

    ( OSCE ) - Establishing a media self-regulation system in Armenia, as
    well as accountability and professional norms in the coverage of
    elections and inter-ethnic relations, were discussed at a seminar
    that ended in Yerevan.

    The two-day event brought together more than 50 participants from the
    Armenian National Assembly, local media outlets, and international
    organizations, as well as media experts from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
    Georgia, Romania and Turkey.

    "The ongoing democratic reforms in Armenia call for professional,
    independent and responsible media," said Ambassador Vladimir
    Pryakhin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

    "I hope this seminar will help promote better understanding by the
    Armenian media community of the process of establishing media
    accountability systems."

    In a letter to the participants of the seminar, Miklos Haraszti, the
    OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, said: "It is important
    for Armenia to launch a self-regulatory body. While promoting media
    professionalism and respect for ethics, the existence of a
    self-regulatory mechanism can minimize the chances of State
    intervention and help restore civil society's trust in the media."

    Boris Navasardyan, the President of the Yerevan Press Club, said:
    "Since 2004, the Yerevan Press Club has been closely co-operating
    with the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Open Society Institute on
    ways of introducing an effective self-regulation system for Armenian
    media. Introducing norms of professional conduct, particularly in the
    coverage of elections and regional problems, is one of the most
    urgent issues."

    The Yerevan Press Club has called on the media community to jointly
    develop a Code of Professional Ethics. So far, 19 media outlets and
    leading media NGOs have signed the proposed document. The initiative
    helped establish a Media Ethics Observatory which will survey the
    fulfilment of the Code of Professional Ethics and gradually become a
    prototype of a Press Council in the country.

    Participants also noted that the seminar was particularly important
    in light of the May parliamentary elections.

    The event was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the Office of
    the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the Yerevan Press
    Club and the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation - Armenia.
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