By 2025, there will be more than half a billion podcast consumers worldwide. Podcasts have become one of the most influential forms of public communication due to their immediacy, conversational format, and informal style that resonates with listeners. For example, President of Ukraine Zelensky conveyed his message to U.S. President Trump through podcaster Lex Friedman. Similarly, Trump and Elon Musk have engaged U.S. voters through Friedman and Joe Rogan. Prime Minister Pashinyan and his wife, Anna Hakobyan, have decided not to fall behind the podcasting trend.
Pashinyan, who is highly active on various social platforms, has decided to utilize this channel to bridge the communication gaps and prepare for the upcoming elections. Typically, it is opposition politicians who look for innovative and bold strategies to expand their audience, as they have less to lose. However, Pashinyan stays true to his oppositionary spirit, not shying away from taking risks.
As a media professional, he understands and values the importance of public speaking and public image.
People make choices based on what they see and hear; therefore, capturing their attention is crucial for gaining their support. “Public communication is everything in politics,” Pashinyan stated during the opening broadcast and mentioned, “In addition to the official message, there is a subtext and context that I want to share with the public.” Furthermore, Anna Hakobyan emphasized that the goal of their podcast is to ensure that “people’s perceptions align with reality.”
Pashinyan and his wife discuss the myths about them and how to combat misinformation. They stress the importance of direct communication with the public, avoiding formal settings. The aim is to convey their messages clearly and effectively. Pashinyan is concerned about gaps in public communication, as he feels that people often don’t understand what he is trying to convey. He believes that official texts alone cannot cover everything. Therefore, they see the need for a more accessible approach. Voters should have no confusion; every word, along with its nuances and context, should be plainly explained.
Pashinyan also states that this podcast will demonstrate their transparency and counter the accusations of authoritarianism directed at them.
Let’s agree, when in a country that is proclaimed to be democratic, the head of the executive branch dismisses a representative of the judicial body via an SMS and justifies it by saying it is what the voters demand, it is hard not to at least talk about monarchical tendencies and authoritarian manifestations of those in power.
The other goal is to convince people that their family is visible to everyone—transparent, simple, and accessible—rather than being represented by a distant and inaccessible government entity with a special status. This podcast serves to demonstrate that idea. There are no YouTube dictators; that’s the underlying logic.
As Pashinyan says, to show that a simple and straightforward prime minister like his people who “makes omelets and rides a bicycle” cannot be an authoritarian leader. Pashinyan equates being public with being democratic and adds that since geopolitical challenges exist, they must always be public. Those challenges are probably mainly internal because Pashinyan has only one audience: his voters.
Seven years after coming to power, he wants to remind his audience that he is still the same simple, onion-eating, bicycle-riding Nicole from 2018. This is the same Nicole who promised change but ultimately let his supporters down. Now, he is asking for their votes to revive those promises and gain another chance.
Authorities around the world are leveraging the publicity provided by media tools. The days of stifling information through Internet shutdowns, as seen during events like the “Arab Spring,” are long gone. In today’s landscape, both democratic and authoritarian leaders inundate the media with their content instead of resorting to disconnection. They combine resources, utilize bot farms, and mobilize large teams and organizations that monitor trends around the clock. These groups then devise strategies aligned with their agendas and ideologies, seeking to control the narrative in politically sensitive or problematic areas.
As a media expert, Pashinyan has chosen to utilize yet another strategy to project the image of a “people’s” leader and to promote narratives of an “innocent,” modest, and “accountable” public government.
The “Family Podcast” could be renamed the “Salvation Podcast” with a slogan that aligns with Pashinyan’s logic: “Listen to me, and it shall be given to you; watch me, and you shall see. For whoever listens will believe, and to whoever knocks, the doors of the ‘Real Armenia’ shall be opened (Luke 11:9-10).”