The International Republican Institute has conducted a survey among 1200 residents of Armenia to find out what changes have been made to people’s mood after October 2018. 

The survey participants assessed the work in the spheres of politics, finance, economy, foreign policy, institutional credibility, media independence and others. The survey was conducted on May 6-31, 2019. 

The situation in the media has been reflected through a number of separate issues. 69% of respondents think that the media in Armenia has become more independent over the past six months, while 5% have registered a decline in independence. 

74% of respondents are convinced that there is progress in freedom of speech, the situation remains the same for 18%, while 6% think that freedom of speech is restricted.

The question as to what their sources of political information are, 81% of the respondents answered TV, 61% social media, 30% relatives and friends, 27% Russian TV and only 15% debates.

In October 2018, 66% of respondents said that they received political news from online media. Within six months, this figure dropped to 14%.

The most influential format of pre-election campaigns is television talk shows for 54% of respondents, for 50% social media, for 40% debates and for 40% TV advertising.

For the sake of political news, most people watch Shant (62%), Public (52%) and Armenia (48%) TV channels.

30% of respondents watch Shant TV’s “Perspective” program, 27% of Public Television “Good Evening” program and 23% the same channels “Let’s Understand” program. 12-13% of respondents are watching programs hosted by Petros Ghazaryan.

The majority of respondents think that Armenian media is free to differentiate different political views. 

The most frequently visited website is Azatutyun 36%, News.am 35%, and 1in.am 18%.

The leader of social media is Facebook (83%), followed by YouTube (46%) and Instagram (26%). 2% of respondents use Twitter and 1% us Telegram.

Gayane Asryan