{"id":6184,"date":"2016-03-25T21:40:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T21:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/the-future-of-armenias-newspapers-zhoghovurd\/"},"modified":"2016-03-25T21:40:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T21:40:22","slug":"the-future-of-armenias-newspapers-zhoghovurd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/viewpoint\/2016\/03\/25\/6184\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Armenia’s Newspapers: Zhoghovurd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media.am continues its interviews with chief editors of local newspapers on the problems and survival prospects of the print media in Armenia.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the end of the series, the overall trends will be summarized.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our interviewee in this segment is <\/em>Zhoghovurd chief editor Taguhi Tovmasyan.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

“Our paper will definitely be printed for 10 years yet”<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zhoghovurd<\/u><\/em><\/strong> daily<\/u><\/strong>
\nFounded in 2011.
\nCirculation: 4,000 (fluctuates)
\nPrinting: black and white, 8 pages.
\nPrice: 100 AMD [about $0.20 USD]
\nRevenue sources: advertising, subscription and newsstand sales, investments (sometimes)
\nOnline version<\/a> since 2011.<\/p>\n

Do you agree with the view that in Armenia, if the authorities want, newspapers will continue to be published; if they don\u2019t want, they\u2019ll shut down?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, because no one can prohibit me in my country to do the work I love, including publishing a newspaper. You can always find the resources to start any business.<\/p>\n

With what means did you establish the paper, weren\u2019t there helpers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the founding of the newspaper, helping me financially were my friends, the majority of whom lives abroad and has no political or news media interest in Armenia. They helped me to have my [own] business, which could\u2019ve been a newspaper or, for example, lipstick production.<\/p>\n

The Zhoghovurd<\/em> newspaper was founded at a time when the \u201cgreat retreat\u201d of newspapers had already begun in the world. What was the source of your courage?<\/strong><\/p>\n

From my first student years, I\u2019ve always been actively involved in journalism, and being inspired by the work of fair and unbiased media outlets, I felt that the time had come for me to establish the media outlet of my vision.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t have a plan from the beginning that by all means I must open a newspaper: I was thinking about an online news site. I don\u2019t know why, I very abruptly decided to establish a newspaper \u2014 in one month. Of course, everyone was advising me on the contrary. But 5 years later I can say that my taking the risk was justified.<\/p>\n

You didn\u2019t say: from where did you get this courage?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I myself have always been courageous; it\u2019s my nature. But, for some reason, there was a kind of skepticism. People couldn\u2019t imagine that a young girl in Armenia will succeed at something by herself. I proved that will and industriousness are the guarantors of success.<\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019ve gone through great difficulties. There were incidents when people would stop our readers at the kiosks and supposedly reveal that our newspaper is pro-government, [and] it\u2019s not worth buying. Even some of my former colleagues began publishing news that my sponsor is the president\u2019s son-in-law and our newspaper is a presidential project.<\/p>\n

\"Taguhi<\/p>\n

Is that not so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. I don\u2019t even know him. But, as they say, \u201cThere\u2019s no evil without good.\u201d That helped me a lot. Because all the doors that were closed before me opened.<\/p>\n

That is, they believed those reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, a great many believed and began to treat [me, the paper] cautiously. That image helped me a lot.<\/p>\n

Aren\u2019t you afraid that if this remark of yours is published, those same doors might close before you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not anymore. Because whatever door was going to open has already opened, and there\u2019s no path to its closing. And the doors to be newly opened are already being opened before Zhoghovurd<\/em> daily. We have our own place in the field; we don\u2019t have to establish ourselves.<\/p>\n

We started with a circulation of 1,500, which became 2,000 in the second month, and 3,000 in the third month, and like that we very quickly grew.<\/p>\n

On account of what? You don\u2019t have your own printing house, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, we don\u2019t have our own. Our circulation grew very quickly when we began at the end of every week to take all the unsold copies of our paper to the regions, to distribut them to the residents. It was like a \u201cbecoming familiar\u201d campaign, but mutual: we also took note of which article they read first, which page they looked at, what interested people\u2026<\/p>\n

In this way, we became stronger in the regions. Our [Armenian] newspapers always seem to focus on the capital; we began with the opposite.<\/p>\n

Is advertising more expensive in the print version or the online version?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the newspaper. Because it\u2019s more effective, and advertisers know that quite well. Print advertising lasts.<\/p>\n

In our [Armenia\u2019s] small advertising market, there\u2019s another issue: acceptability. You can\u2019t give ads to everyone. Sometimes our cutting news articles \u201cspoil\u201d advertisers.  <\/p>\n

As for investments, I\u2019ve already developed a plan to be engaged in another business, which I\u2019ll soon announce and I myself will make investments in our newspaper.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to invest the profits of your other business into the newspaper, which now more so \u201ctakes money\u201d than \u201cgives money\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, because I like the newspaper. Journalism is mine; I\u2019m a newspaper person. I read the press everyday compulsorily. For me, the newspaper\u2019s daily routine is a way of life.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I don\u2019t consider internet media my own. Because there, we\u2019re constantly in a race for speed and not for quality. There is little public interest in good-quality news stories, investigation, and analysis. It\u2019s enough for there to be blood, a skirmish, or anything about a gang in a photo or the headline, it immediately becomes the most viewed.<\/p>\n

Are there commissions for pieces to be published in your newspaper?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our \u201ccommission\u201d is shaped by readers. In any case, during these years no one has asked me, can I give you this much money so you can run this kind of piece? There have only been advertising pieces, which have been purely economic in nature and have been recorded as an advertising piece, with a clear distinguishing feature.<\/p>\n

What about commissions not to run some story?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To be frank, for this one, there have been a great many [requests], but I haven\u2019t given in to the temptation. Our newspaper\u2019s reputation is more dear to me. <\/p>\n

\"Protest<\/p>\n

How do they know that there\u2019s going to be a story published about them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we\u2019re going to publishe a story about someone, we by all means ask for a comment from them, so we don\u2019t run a one-sided piece. And in such cases, a great many have tried to get the piece completely removed, but I repeat: I haven\u2019t been tempted.<\/p>\n

Approximately how much money have they offered for a story not to be published?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It depends on the subject of the story\u2019s status and the resonance of what will be published.<\/p>\n

What about threats?<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the beginning, many tried to divert, to scare [us] that our dose of courage will be reduced, but that too we overcame. We passed that stage. Having principles, courage, and tenacity helped us. Gradually, everyone reconciled [themselves] with our sort of existence. For me, it\u2019s important for the articles to reach our readers \u2014 verified on all sides, in an objective reality.<\/p>\n

In photos of the paper\u2019s five-year anniversary celebration, I saw many famous faces and officials. I haven\u2019t seen such presence at any paper\u2019s jubilee in recent years. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The explanation for that is that we\u2019re able to be an attainable daily paper for everyone. That is to say, if anyone wants to talk about anything, we\u2019re open for them. We don\u2019t have taboos, favorites, hated [topics, people]\u2026  \u201cA daily paper for everyone and about everything\u201d \u2014 that\u2019s our slogan.<\/p>\n

What about litigations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

From our founding, lawsuits have pursued us. But I happily must say that we mainly win.<\/p>\n

That is, you\u2019ve never once been fined?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t paid a fine to any of them.<\/p>\n

In your opinion, for how much longer will Zhoghovurd <\/em>be printed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For as long as all the rest of the newspapers, books will be printed\u2026<\/p>\n

10 years or 100 years yet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For 100 years, I hope, but for 10 years, definitely.<\/p>\n

Interview by Ruzanna Khachatrian<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Media.am continues its interviews with chief editors of local newspapers on the problems and survival prospects of the print media in Armenia. At the end of the series, the overall trends will be summarized. Our interviewee in this segment is Zhoghovurd chief editor Taguhi Tovmasyan. “Our paper will definitely be printed for 10 years yet” Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-viewpoint"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}