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WE WILL STRIKE HEAVILY BUT ACCURATELY
KarabakhOpen
04-05-2007 15:18:01
The state of the freedom of speech is better in Karabakh than in many
other unrecognized post-Soviet countries. We have media which can
afford to provide objective, alternative information. Though small
but there is possibility for public discussion of urgent problems
the country is facing.
So far the government has kept to this course, although on
the whole the information policy of the government was not
consistent. Nevertheless, there was no violence against journalists,
there were no court scandals. Moreover, last year the government
started financing non-governmental newspapers.
However, the situation seems to be changing. Gegham Baghdasaryan,
editor-in-chief of the Demo, said in an interview with the KarabakhOpen
that the government seems to have stopped playing democracy. This
year the Demo and the KarabakhOpen have been dropped of the program
of government assistance.
"The problem is not only that we lost a resource we needed,
in fact. Our newspaper is sponsored by the British organization
Conciliation Resources so we are not going to turn to different
funds for finance. The problem is the principle - who and how decides
subsidizing or not subsidizing a newspaper? I think this time it was
a political decision. The newspapers were dropped which accept the
alternative opinion, are free and independent. And it is perhaps
related to the pre-election period in Karabakh. As a member of
parliament, I have made an official inquiry with the prime minister
to explain on what basis the newspapers get or do not get a subsidy,"
said Gegham Baghdasaryan.
As to the KarabakhOpen, the refusal was unexpected. All through the
past year the English version of the Web site was sustained by the
government grant.
They explained the refusal by the decision not to finance online
media this year. They did not explain why. We had to turn to potential
sponsors, international funds to fund the English version. Otherwise,
we will have to close it down. We also propose non-commercial projects
in the framework of the Web site. We have got no answer yet.
In speaking about freedom of speech the problem of television comes
forth.
The problem is that in Karabakh there is only one channel - the Public
Channel. Now many are arguing if it has improved after the reshaping
earlier this year. They say airtime increased from 1.5 to 3 hours,
there are new programs.
These are the advantages. But does the Public Television perform the
functions it is entitled to? It is, first of all, supposed to provide
a variety of information, as well as a possibility for the viewers
to learn different opinions on the urgent problems of the country,
and hold public debates. In this sense, the television has not become
better. In fact, it presents a single point of view. There was a show
on Sundays, the 7 Days, which hosted people with different opinions
around the same table. The program has not been broadcast for two
weeks now. The author Lousine Avanesyan says nobody made her close
the program, she made this decision on her own. Meanwhile, we have
learned that the author and the directors of the channel disagreed
on who could be invited and who could not be invited.
In brief, worrying facts are obvious. And the Karabakh society
suffers, which loses an opportunity for a comprehensive evaluation
of the situation, choice and participation in the government of
the country. With about 30 newspapers in Karabakh people get most
information from private talks. They do not read newspapers, they
look through them. And they do not trust the television.
KarabakhOpen
04-05-2007 15:18:01
The state of the freedom of speech is better in Karabakh than in many
other unrecognized post-Soviet countries. We have media which can
afford to provide objective, alternative information. Though small
but there is possibility for public discussion of urgent problems
the country is facing.
So far the government has kept to this course, although on
the whole the information policy of the government was not
consistent. Nevertheless, there was no violence against journalists,
there were no court scandals. Moreover, last year the government
started financing non-governmental newspapers.
However, the situation seems to be changing. Gegham Baghdasaryan,
editor-in-chief of the Demo, said in an interview with the KarabakhOpen
that the government seems to have stopped playing democracy. This
year the Demo and the KarabakhOpen have been dropped of the program
of government assistance.
"The problem is not only that we lost a resource we needed,
in fact. Our newspaper is sponsored by the British organization
Conciliation Resources so we are not going to turn to different
funds for finance. The problem is the principle - who and how decides
subsidizing or not subsidizing a newspaper? I think this time it was
a political decision. The newspapers were dropped which accept the
alternative opinion, are free and independent. And it is perhaps
related to the pre-election period in Karabakh. As a member of
parliament, I have made an official inquiry with the prime minister
to explain on what basis the newspapers get or do not get a subsidy,"
said Gegham Baghdasaryan.
As to the KarabakhOpen, the refusal was unexpected. All through the
past year the English version of the Web site was sustained by the
government grant.
They explained the refusal by the decision not to finance online
media this year. They did not explain why. We had to turn to potential
sponsors, international funds to fund the English version. Otherwise,
we will have to close it down. We also propose non-commercial projects
in the framework of the Web site. We have got no answer yet.
In speaking about freedom of speech the problem of television comes
forth.
The problem is that in Karabakh there is only one channel - the Public
Channel. Now many are arguing if it has improved after the reshaping
earlier this year. They say airtime increased from 1.5 to 3 hours,
there are new programs.
These are the advantages. But does the Public Television perform the
functions it is entitled to? It is, first of all, supposed to provide
a variety of information, as well as a possibility for the viewers
to learn different opinions on the urgent problems of the country,
and hold public debates. In this sense, the television has not become
better. In fact, it presents a single point of view. There was a show
on Sundays, the 7 Days, which hosted people with different opinions
around the same table. The program has not been broadcast for two
weeks now. The author Lousine Avanesyan says nobody made her close
the program, she made this decision on her own. Meanwhile, we have
learned that the author and the directors of the channel disagreed
on who could be invited and who could not be invited.
In brief, worrying facts are obvious. And the Karabakh society
suffers, which loses an opportunity for a comprehensive evaluation
of the situation, choice and participation in the government of
the country. With about 30 newspapers in Karabakh people get most
information from private talks. They do not read newspapers, they
look through them. And they do not trust the television.