Opening in Yerevan today was the simply named Media Center, which aims to be a bridge between journalists and news media outlets, and civic initiatives and NGOs that monitor and observe electoral processes.  

“Through us, journalists can establish contact with representatives of civil society and organizations carrying out election observation missions. They can use the center to get the information on the spot, at the center,” says the person behind the project, Public Journalism Club Founder Seda Muradyan. 

The Media Center plans to organize press conferences, briefings, and a livestream of election observers at polling stations on election day.

“On election day, every hour we’re going to send updated news to news outlets, as to what we’ve received at that time from organizations carrying out election observation work,” says Muradyan.  

On Feb. 18, the day of Armenia’s presidential election, the Media Center will be working for 24 hours.

“On the day of the election, several times an hour we’ll have press conferences with all those groups that have election observation missions outside of the capital. We’ll connect with them by Skype; that is, at any time journalists can come here to get information,” says Media Center’s coordinator, Gayane Abrahamyan. 

Media Center’s press conferences and meetings also will be available online. 

“It will be possible for our main events to involve also an online audience, getting questions and comments from them. Press conference, interviews, and discussions held in the Center will be streamed live on the Public Journalism Club’s websites, on MyNews’ Livestream page, on the A1+ website, its YouTube channel, and its Livestream page,” says Muradyan. 

It’s possible that the Media Center will be accessible also after the election. 

“This is our first attempt to gather civil society representatives and news outlets and make the exchange of information between them more effective. If this attempt is successful during this election, then we will want to work also after the election,” says Muradyan.

The Media Center is a project founded by the Public Journalism Club and supported by Open Society Foundations–Armenia, USAID, Counterpart International Armenia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tbilisi, and the British Embassy in Yerevan. 

Anna Barseghyan