Vahram Orbelyan is the print media’s most experienced journalist in the Kapan region. For 28 years, he has been writing articles for various publications — from the Ghapan regional newspaper in 1985, to the official newspaper of the Syunik marzpetaran (regional administration), to the Syunyats Yerkir regional newspaper, where he has been working as a journalist and the deputy editor for the last 10 years. 

His work years coincided with the transition period [from Soviet to independent Armenia], when not only the lives of Armenians, but also the perception of journalism completely changed — it was completely different 30 years ago.

Orbelyan looks back on the journalism of the time: “…the Karabakh movement began, the rallies, and so on. We found ourselves in a very bad situation; we too were being criticized that we weren’t reporting, addressing some things; the Azerbaijanis were still here, we didn’t know how to cover the news; it was a very bad situation…”

Recalling Soviet era journalism, Orbelyan emphasized that it was practical. Journalists moved a lot, going to villages to write articles on topics that were imposed on them. Bringing stories from the farms and the factories, they were almost always on the move.

“It was the Soviet Union, and we were forced to write articles on such topics as ‘A Striking Front to Animal Husbandry’ and ‘In the Fields of Khothndz’… We transcribed the speeches of the farms’ brigadiers and custodians. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were not only new categories and a new transition period, but also qualitatively, a new journalism, where there were no imposed topics and fetters. Publicity, free speech, and so on, was hard for us at first, then slowly we acclimatized,” says Orbelyan. 

As a positive aspect of the Soviet press Orbelyan names the custom of officials reacting to stories published in the press. Any critical article was discussed by the regional bureau and the matter resolved. He remembers during those years, for example, a resident contacted the newspaper’s editorial office because his water heater had broken; this matter was discussed at the bureau, and finally, the water heater was fixed.

According to the journalist, this positive feature [of the role of journalism] is not maintained today — no matter how much a journalist writes and speaks, there is indifference. The previous temperance is no longer, and those in charge are no longer alerted by publications:

“One of the ministers was criticized in the newspaper Sovetakan Hayastan [Soviet Armenia]; it’s as if there was a thunderstorm in the open sky — it was an unprecedented thing. Today, a journalist is relatively free. Freedom, that new and necessary current, has to lead to a positive outcome. And if it doesn’t bear positive fruit, who needs it? People talk; it passes. Now old people approach me and say write about this issue — they still hope that by writing about it, the matter will be resolved. But it won’t be…”

Orbelyan believes that a journalist’s freedom in Armenia ends where financial independence begins. He advises journalists to be united at all times: 

“Now, new media has developed; actively at work are social [networking] sites, where there is much sloppy content, publications containing insults, and so on. Solidarity among journalists is very important. We have to respect each other; be happy with each other’s successes; not be envious of each other; and not dig holes for each other.”

Meri Soghomonyan, Kapan