From 21 to 30 September, 2019, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the wife of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Anna Hakobyan’s personality and activities.
35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.
In the specified period, 393 articles were declared, 46 of which were negative, 12 were positive and 335 were neutral.
Both positive and negative articles have been declared on Anna Hakobyan, however, negative ones prevail in number.
Anna Hakobyan’s photo where the prime minister was asleep, has been a matter of criticism both on social networks and in the media։ according to Anna Hakobyan, Prime Minister was sleeping because of hard working days. Another photo appeared on social networks, this time it was not posted by Anna Hakobyan but other Facebook users; this was also discussed in media outlets. According to media reports, the photo displayed Anna Hakobyan’s new expensive car.
The media again recalled Anna Hakobyan’s outgoing visits where she accompanied her husband. The publications note that Mrs. Hakobyan tried to hide her expensive purchases but failed, then gave some answers explaining the reason why she is accompanying her husband during his outgoing visits, but those explanations were not acceptable to the media.
Recently, Nikol Pashinyan left for the USA on a working visit. The Prime Minister delivered a speech at the session of the UN General Assembly. A video from the meeting was spread on the social networks, causing various discussions. The media outlets and social networks noted that Anna Hakobyan was dealing with other things during Nikol Pashinyan’s speech, and that Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan made a remark, warning Anna Hakobyan to stop and be attentive to the session.
The article covering the fact that the wife of the Prime Minister of Singapore, Ho Ching, shared Anna Hakobyan’s photo, where the Prime Minister was sleeping and wished him to have a good rest, was assessed as positive. According to media reports, Mrs. Hakobyan made a positive impression on Ho Ching. Anna Hakobyan also visited the child who fell from the 6th floor; she presented a “Spider Man” toy to the child.
