From 21 to 31 October, 2019, the “Media Advocate” Initiative followed online media reports on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s personality and activities. 5 news agencies were monitored: armlur.am, yerkir.am, armtimes.com, azatutyun.am and yerevan.today.
According to the monitoring, 541 articles were published on 5 selected websites regarding Nikol Pashinyan. 128 articles of which are negative, 47 are positive and 366 are neutral.
Negative articles on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan again prevail.
According to media reports, Lavrov noted that the statement on Artsakh, which relates to this or that variant of the conflict settlement, does not contribute to it in any way. According to the media, those words were mainly addressed to Armenia.
The prime minister was also criticized after news that a new plane will be obtained for Nikol Pashinyan. During one of the protests, one of the citizens a brought a paper plane and announced that he had brought a new plane so that the Prime Minister does not need to by one. It is noted that the current plane serving the PM can serve for another 5 years. Eduard Aghajanyan, the chief of Prime Minister’s staff has stated that the plane serving the prime minister cannot cross the ocean and its pilots do not have such a license.
The media outlets have raised the question of where is Robert Kocharyan’s $ 4 billion, about which the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated. According to the publication, two years have already passed, but there is no news of that money.
Vazgen Manukyan, referring to Arman Babajanyan’s meeting with Nairi Hunanyan, stated in his turn, that he does not think that anyone could visit Nairi Hunanyan without Nikol Pashinyan’s permission.
The news that Nikol Pashinyan and US Ambassador Lynne Tracy had a meeting was positively assessed. Tracy welcomed the joint work of the Prime Minister’s staff and the state agencies and reaffirmed US willingness to continue supporting the RA Government’s priorities.
Eduard Aghajanyan, referring to the purchase of car and renovation of the house, said: “Let’s perceive one thing: the Prime Minister has not bought anything for himself. These are government purchases and they are purchased for the needs of the state. The same should be said about the renovation of Kond houses, they are state properties.”
From 157 articles published in yerevan.today 84 were negative, 5 were positive and 65 were neutral.
The news agency has harshly criticized the government. In one of the publications, it is stated: “Unfortunately, the solutions are not visible in relation to its long-term consequences either. We will enter the third year of the change of government with such changes of public outcomes that will again not allow us to talk about more or less improving social situation. And no matter how much Nikol Pashinyan announces about the salary increase of hundreds of thousands of people, it is nothing more than a drop of water.” It is also noted that the growth rates presented by the Prime Minister in this or that sphere are also untrue.
The publication of the news outlet according to which during a hearing held by the Helsinki Committee in the US Congress, German Marshall Fund analyst Jonathan Katz noted that Nikol Pashinyan’s government which came to power due to “Velvet Revolution”, has the best opportunity in newly-independent Armenia’s history to bring real democracy to country has been positively assessed.
From 132 articles published in armtimes.com, 2 were negative, 17 were positive and 113 were neutral.
Vazgen Manukyan’s position on Nairi Hunanyan and Arman Babajanyan’s meeting was assessed as negative.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan have joined the wounded soldiers in the weaving process of the carpet called “Armenian Space”. The program will be continuous.
Former State Revenue Committee (SRC employee) Hayk Martirosyan agreed to return to work. Let us remind that after the incident with the flag he was fired by the order of the Prime Minister but recently the Prime Minister recalled the incident and said that Hayk Martirosyan will be offered to return to work.
From 102 articles published in yerkir.am, 33 were negative, 8 were positive and 61 were neutral.
The news agency referred to the all above mentioned criticisms. According to one of its publications, Khachik Asryan will take 50,000 people to the streets and will undertake a power change. Arthur Ghazinyan thinks that in case of another prime minister, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan would have done better in the BBC “HARDtalk” interview. Gagik Hambaryan noted that many people resign or quit their jobs because they cannot stand the dilettantism of the authorities.
The publication on the meeting of the US Ambassador and the Prime Minister was positively assessed. Eduard Aghajanyan’s explanation and the return of the SRC employee has also been positively assessed.
From 87 articles published in armlur.am, 7 were negative, 11 were positive and 69 were neutral.
The news outlet has published the critical opinion on the salaries increase of ministers. It is said that the decision to increase the salaries was secretly made. In this regard, Edmon Marukyan asked the Prime Minister the reason why the salaries were secretly increased. Armen Ashotyan noted that the Constitutional Court has become a big problem for Nikol Pashinyan.
All of the above mentioned positive remarks are among the positive articles published by the news agency. The fact that Kim Kardashian has shared Nikol Pashinyan’s post was also positively assessed.
From 63 articles published in azatutyun.am, 2 were negative, 6 were positive and 55 were neutral.
Among the negative articles one may find Lavrov’s statement and the conclusion of the media, as well as Vazgen Manukyan’s speech.
The meeting of the US Ambassador and Nikol Pashinyan was positively assessed. Vladimir Karapetyan’s explanation regarding the increase of salaries, Viktor Mnatsakanyan’s resignation, in which he expresses his gratitude to Nikol Pashinyan have also been positively assessed.
Though as a result of monitoring one may see a clear political stance of media agencies, it should be noted that the situation has improved slightly in terms of impartiality compared to the previous ten-day period.
