News of the assassination attempt on Armenian presidential candidate, Union of National Self-Determination leader Paruyr Hayrikyan was spread through different channels. Unknown assailant(s) shot Hayrikyan on Jan. 31 at around 11:30 pm, when the work day of many editorial offices and local journalists was nearing its end. 

Not too long after this exceptional incident in downtown Yerevan, I observed how 7 TV stations — H1 (First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia), h2 (the second state channel), Armenia TV, Shant TV, Kentron TV, Yerkir Media, and ArmNews — worked from the night of Jan. 31 to the early morning of Feb. 1. 

Since I monitored the work of these TV stations with the help of local ISP Ucom’s “Catch-Up” DVR service, let me present my findings, according to their order on Ucom’s remote control.

H1 reported the news about the assassination attempt on Hayrikyan at 8 am on Feb. 1 during its “Aravot Luso” program. At 9 am, Arachin Lratvakan (H1’s news program) also broadcast a summed-up report. 

h2‘s programming is not round-the-clock; it’s interrupted between 2:45 am and 7:45 am. At 8 am, Lraber (h2’s news program) reported the daily news, also mentioning that presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikyan as part of his election campaign is preparing to visit Garni, Goght, Nubarashen… Lraber’s morning broadcast, apart from news briefs, also broadcast two sports news stories. Apparently, it was a pre-recorded broadcast. 

The morning program “Bari Luys, Hayastan,” technically, is a live broadcast; however, all the same, there was no news about Hayrikyan on h2. Lraber reported the news of the assassination attempt at 9:55 am — with the News.am logo on the video footage shown. 

Shant TV reported the shooting about one hour after it happened by running a news ticker on the screen, calling it an armed attack. The ticker also reported there was no threat to Hayrikyan’s life. 

Horizon (Shant’s news program) special program was on air at around 1 am. The TV station reported the incident, established a direct link to the scene and with the reporters at the hospital. 

Armenia TV reported the news of the assassination attempt with a news ticker during its nighttime programming, but quite late, at around 4 am. Zham’s nighttime broadcasts were repeats and were broadcast without the most important news of the past day.

At 10 am the next day Zham reported the news of the assassination attempt, along with a video. At the start of the program “Bari Luys, Hayer” at 10:20 am, host Gayane Aslamazyan informed viewers about what had happened with Hayrikyan. 

Kentron TV, during its nighttime programming, Epicenter’s main broadcasts were repeats, with no mention of the assassination attempt. Only the 9:30 am broadcast of Epicenter reported the news and aired its own video footage.  

Yerkir Media during the film Marie Antoinette broadcast at night ran a news ticker that said “They shot Hayrikyan” and promised a special broadcast of the program Yerkirn Aysor. The program was exceptionally broadcast at around 1 am. 

ArmNews‘ last daily news broadcasts begins in the middle of the night. Before the end of the broadcast, host Vruyr Mkrtchyan managed to convey news of the assassination attempt on the presidential candidate, citing well-known photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan.

At night, ArmNews, as well as Shant TV, and Yerkir Media through special broadcasts were reporting regularly about the assassination attempt on the presidential candidate, the condition of his health, including commentary by politicians and state officials. 

Gegham Vardanyan

The views expressed in the column are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Media.am.