Almost equal number of positive and negative articles were published on Nikol Pashinyan

From 21 to 30 November, 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, aravot.am, armtimes.com, azatutyun.am and a1plus.am.

According to the monitoring, 349 articles were published on 5 selected websites regarding Nikol Pashinyan. 35 articles of which are negative, 38 are positive and 276 are neutral.

Almost equal number of positive and negative articles were published on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

According to publications, Nikol Pashinyan stated in the pre-election period that if their political force receives the majority of the people’s vote, serious changes are expected to take place in the country, the most important of which will be investments, economic development and immigration. As an indicator of the work with the Diaspora, the news outlet considered latest Hayastan All-Armenian Fund Telethon, which raised a $ 10 million drams; the news outlet also reported that back in 2016, Telethon raised more than $ 15 million drams.

According to one of the publications, it is really sad that Nikol Pashinyan and his team repeats the steps that were once criticized by them. In particular, the practice of posting Facebook posts during the working hours is mentioned.

According to publications, Nikol Pashinyan again touched upon the Bible in a speech on the occasion of the day of the Employee of the Special Investigation Service, in particular, saying that many of those who come to power suffer from the complex of the Ishkhan Bidaxsh (Armenian medieval feudal titles, meaning “prince”) and suggested that this complex is replaced by the complex of Jesus; that is being an owner and a servant at the same time. Referring to this topic, the news agency wrote: “This is the second time in the last two weeks that Nikol Pashinyan has drawn parallels between himself, his authority and the Lord. Of course, psychologists will diagnose this problem more professionally, but at least the first perception, gives the impression that Nikol Pashinyan is comparing himself with Christ and by ordering officials to replace the complex of Ishkhan with the Jesus complex, subconsciously considers himself as Jesus and the officials as apostles.

Nikol Pashinyan’s flashmob, which was an action of a regular, every month donation of 10,000 drams to the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, has been responded by a number of world-famous Armenian stars: Serj Tankian, American-Armenian producer Eric Esraelyan, Alexis Ohanyan and others accepted the request.

From 107 articles published in aravot.am, 25 were negative, 10 were positive and 72 were neutral.

The news agency published almost all the negative articles mentioned above. In addition, the news outlet has published a statement according to which Nikol Pashinyan announced in the pre-election period that the state budget will increase by 30-35%. Almost two years have passed and, according to the publication, we see that the state budget has not been increased by 30-35% and the promise has not been fulfilled. Eduard Sharmazanov’s interview was also published by the news agency. Sharmazanov referred to the Committee investigating the circumstances of the April war, headed by MP Andranik Kocharyan, he particularly noted: “Andranik Kocharyan and his team must first invite Nikol Pashinyan to testify, because after the April war Nikol Pashinyan has regularly stated that the April war was an agreed deal with Russia’s silent consent, in order Azerbaijan to become a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). I have not quoted his exact words, but presented his general idea. Let them call the Prime Minister and say, “Where does this information come from?’ If there is an agreement with Russia, then why you continue attending the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) meetings and unanimously sign things there. If the CSTO was a formal structure, if there was an agreement with Russia, then where did you get that information from? ”

The news agency published articles on people joining Nikol Pashinyan’s request, Peskov’s statement that the detention of second President Robert Kocharyan does not hinder relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Hovik Aghazaryan, in his turn, supported Nikol Pashinyan for his Bible references.

From 74 articles published in armtimes.com, 1 was negative, 10 were positive and 63 were neutral.

The news outlet has published the names of people who have joined the Prime Minister’s challenge related to the All-Armenian Fund. Dmitry Peskov’s statement has also been published by the news agency. The news that according to the British Analytical Institute’s 2019 “Legatum Prosperity Index” Armenia outstripped all post-Soviet states except for the Baltic states and Georgia, has been positively assessed.

From 62 articles published in armlur.am, 4 were negative, 9 were positive and 49 were neutral.

The former NA deputy Lyudmila Sargsyan gave an interview to the news outlet which mainly referred to Nikol Pashinyan’s statement in Italy, according to which he considered Levon Ter-Petrosyan as evil. Lyudmila Sargsyan noted: “Nikol Pashinyan’s opinion was incorrectly formulated and he does not think the first president has ever been evil.”

The Armenian National Congress (ANC) has also responded to Nikol Pashinyan’s statement. “Either illogically or based on “political expediency”, Pashinyan can announce whatever he wants, but in this case, he, in fact, insults the ones who voted for the 2008 “evil” opposition candidate as he has defined, he insults 10-day rally participants, he insults unarmed demonstrators fighting against tanks and machine guns in the streets on March 1.”

As in the case of the previous news agencies, in the case of “Armlur.am”, the names of the one who joined the challenge were published as well. According to another analysis, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) tried to check Nikol Pashinyan’s strength with the help of the fight against the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. The publication notes: “In this sense, Pashinyan resisted the first blow, and it should be noted that it did not take him much. To a large extent, the development over the resignation of the Minister only recorded unchanged status quo in post-revolutionary realities, despite a year and a half long way.”

From 61 articles published in a1plus.am, 4 were negative, 4 were positive and 53 were neutral.

The news agency also referred to Nikol Pashinyan’s statement on Jesus Christ in the Armenian Church of Milan. According to psychologist Mihrdat Madatyan, Pashinyan tried to act as a hero. According to one of the publications, former member of Yerevan Council of Elders Sona Aghekyan was in front of the Government Building handing a request to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. She demands that Nikol Pashinyan leaves the government house, providing its space to kindergartens and the children of killed servicemen.

The news outlet has published the news that Serj Tankian has accepted the Prime Minister’s challenge and Peskov’s statement.

From 49 articles published in azatutyun.am, 1 was negative, 5 were positive and 43 were neutral.

Lenser Aghalovyan, academician-secretary of the department of Mathematical and Technical Sciences, is upset with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement: “To do science in Armenia to a large extent, not completely, but is all about going to a building every morning, which has a research institute sign, drink coffee there for the first half of the day, and return home.” Lenser Aghalovyan, in his turn noted: “I also drink coffee, why should I not drink? But along with it, I am writing a book. ”

The news that the Prime Minister is among the ten most active leaders on Facebook has been positively assessed. The World Bank has provided a $ 50 million loan to the Armenian government. Serj Tankian and Alexis Ohanyan have accepted Prime Minister Pashinyan’s challenge.