Negative articles prevail

From 1 to 10 June, 2019, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the Vice-president of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan’s personality and activities.

35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.

In the specified period, 247 articles were declared, 92 of which were negative, 5 were positive and 177 were neutral.

Negative articles on NA Vice-President Alen Simonyan several times exceed the positive ones. First of all, it should be noted that in this ten-day period, the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials has filed a case against Alen Simonyan. It is noted that the vice-speaker has published false information in his declaration of wealth and assests. The source of all this is the data by “Fact-Investigation Platform” which is led by Daniel Ioannisyan, a member of the Union of Informed Citizens. Daniel Ioannisian defined Alen Simonyan’s actions as crime.

Alen Simonyan was also criticized after his wife’s father was appointed as a deputy head of Kentron administrative district. The press mentions that this is another nepotism example.

The vice-speaker is not the first official to be blamed for appointing his friends and acquaintances in offices, while the authorities have repeatedly stated that such principle is unacceptable. The press is attentive to this issue.