Armenian media face political restrictions: expert poll

The level of freedom in the Armenia media is 58.64%, according to an expert poll conducted by the Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech, NGO.

The survey returns reveal that the Armenian media are partially free in economic and legal spheres and completely non-free in the political domain, Committee president Ashot Melikyan and sociologist Vardan Gevorgyan told a news conference on Monday.
The survey, conducted in August-September 2010, was aimed at revealing the level of freedom of the Armenian media against the background of legal, political and economic factors.

The survey was based on Freedom House international organization's methodology whose grading system gives 31-60 points to countries with partially free media. The countries having 61 and more points are considered non-free. Armenia is on the borderline between the two.

The survey was conducted among the heads and representatives of 50 Armenian media outlets and journalist organizations. The respondents were to answer 35 questions.

Introducing the survey returns, sociologist Vardan Gevorgyan said that the legal and economic freedom of the Armenian media was estimated 15.25 and 20.51% (the maximum level in this grading scale was 30%) respectively, while political freedom was 22.88% (out of the total 40).

"The media experience the influence of different political factors and are often pressured," Ashot Melikyan said, adding that media activities become especially complicated before elections when pressure and violence against journalists assume larger scales.