In the last two years, there have been vivid changes in terms of taunt and contemptuous attitude towards the media

The interlocutor of “Media Advocate” initiative is Arpine Hovhannisyan, the founder of the “Legal Education and Control” Non-Governmental Organization, former NA Deputy Speaker.

Journalists post stories on Facebook from your book presentation event, as one may notice, you still receive congratulatory messages. How did the presentation go, who were invited and based on which principle? Most importantly, would you please present the book “Media Law” very briefly, a few emphases: what is it about, what is its main goal?

Thank you for the congratulation. I think the presentation went really well, it was widely covered by journalists, there are even reactions from people who have managed to get acquainted with the book to certain extent, they, in particularly, mention its usefulness. The number of guests was limited, considering the anti-epidemic situation. I would really like to invite more people and journalists, but I could not, 90% and more were actually media representatives or people who used to be journalists and had any connection with the media. I even joked: face control, dress code, plus media. The purpose of the book or, so to say, the main direction of the book is that the questions which arise in the daily work of journalists are comprehensively presented. I have made several emphases, I do not want to sound complacent, but this is unprecedented in its kind in the Armenian reality, because the book presents almost everything related to a specific issue, and anyone willing will be able to implement a deeper study. The book, in particularly, presents questions related to the protection of journalistic sources, as well as questions related to the protection of honor, dignity, privacy and personal data protection.

Journalists often encounter in their daily work a situation when the desired information is denied with reference to the Law on Personal Data Protection, while in fact there exists a right way to make a request, and then a way to expect the right version from the competent authority when they can not, so to say refuse illegally and simply to say that they do not provide information, as if someone is against it. It presents one of the most up-to-date developments, that is, all the latest developments related to fake news, questions related to the presumption of innocence, issues related to the preservation of the presumption of innocence during the coverage of criminal cases, as well as issues related to the legal protection of domains.

The presentation of the book was followed by an announcement of the course. How was it decided, who was the initiator?

The course is a joint program of the Konrad Adenauer German Foundation, where I was engaged in as an expert, and the Departments of Law and Journalism of Yerevan State University. The program is being launched for the first time at YSU and it will be a certified course, I will deliver lectures on certain topics. Of course, the course will not completely cover the topics revealed in the book, there are more topics in the book, but this course will allow those interested in the field to gain new knowledge and use it in their daily work.

Legislation regulating the media is changing very fast in Armenia. Even the basic principles are being changed. Can we talk about long-term, logical media rights under such circumstances?

I don’t entirely agree that the legislation regulating the media in Armenia is often changed. In the last two years we have seen certain attempts to make some changes, in particular, in a radical, incorrect direction. The most frequently changed is, in fact, the legislation on television and radio. The Law on Mass Media has not been substantially, fundamentally changed since 2003. This is not accidental, as it is difficult to make changes in the legislation of the media field without a broad consensus, and there is no such consensus, on the contrary, there is a confrontation.

What positive or negative changes have taken place in the field of freedom of speech in the last two years? Your assessment, please.

In the last two years, there have vivid been changes in terms of taunt on the media, bad and contemptuous attitude towards journalists, as the change of government, the self-confidence of the current officials, the morbid obsession of always being right, lead to the fact that they are not tolerant of criticism. In this regard, the insatiable desire of the government to put pressure on the press and impose restrictions is getting stronger and stronger, but the media, in its turn, naturally, opposes it.