{"id":7848,"date":"2017-03-31T02:27:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T02:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/media-battle-v-corruption-illusion-of-choice\/"},"modified":"2017-03-31T02:27:24","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T02:27:24","slug":"media-battle-v-corruption-illusion-of-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/critique\/2017\/03\/31\/7848\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Battle v. Corruption: Illusion of Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"ltr\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/media.am\/en\/node\/4184\">Mediamart<\/a> (Media Battle) is a digital game developed by the Media Initiatives Center [also responsible for this site] for journalism enthusiasts. Independent Armenia\u2019s media already has more than a quarter of a century of history, but media coverage of corruption (the fight against corruption) is more like a game in terms of effectiveness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>1. The illusion of choice<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>First of all, to what extent election bribes and other election violations can be considered corruption should be clarified.<\/p>\n<p>Established by Armenia\u2019s Prosecutor General in 2008 and amended in 2013 is the the list of corruption-related crimes, a number of points of which directly refer to the elections: abuse of official authority (RA Criminal Code Article 308); use of real or assumed influence for mercenary interests (Article 311 Section 2); abuse of power, transgression of authority or administrative dereliction (Article 375); and so on.<\/p>\n<p>The parliamentary elections are on April 2. If the government applies the entire aforementioned spectrum of crimes (the opposition cannot, for instance, abuse its official authority, which is purely a tool of the ruling authorities), it will be a manifestation of corruption resulting in its reproducing itself, ensuring the smooth operation of the same system of corruption.<\/p>\n<p>If we consider that there haven\u2019t been any serious changes in government after the last national election, media coverage of the constitutional referendum in December 2015 may help us make predictions for the upcoming National Assembly elections.<\/p>\n<p>And so we see in a video by Hetq.am a gross electoral violation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JVPq1PFF9rY\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>From the accompanying <a href=\"http:\/\/hetq.am\/arm\/news\/64306\/qveneri-hraparakman-zhamanak-anjatvats-elektraenergian-ev-dra-hetevanqnery.html\">news story<\/a>: \u201cThe lights were shut off for about 20 minutes; while the lights were off, the committee member said, \u2019The No\u2019s were a lot.\u2019\u201d As shown in the photos taken after the electricity came back on, a number of ballots with \u2018no\u2019 votes go missing during that time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Transparency International Anticorruption Center legal adviser Heriknaz Tigranyan confirms that the referendum was a disappointment for the public in terms of reviving some forgotten types of election violations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ii19aycl3tY\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">On this backdrop, through more moderate means (by distributing sandwiches), a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.civilnet.am\/news\/2015\/12\/06\/yes-camp-distributing-food\/282954\">video<\/a> depicting the \u201ccultivating\u201d of voters turned into a meme.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g-fw0cbNVhg\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>There were numerous violations recorded by the media and by election observers, which gave a significant segment of the public hope that these may lead to election results being disputed later. But, a <em>Haykakan Zhamanak<\/em> (Armenian Times) February 4, 2016 news article titled \u201cThe referendum full of election fraud has been forgotten\u201d shows that those hopes were illusory.<\/p>\n<p>The paper was surprised to find out that in the 455 pages of the RA Human Rights Defender\u2019s annual report, \u201cnewly elected ombudsman Arman Tatoyan did not mention at least a single sentence about the December 2015 constitutional referendum, during which journalists and election observers were attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That the majority of biting reports find their place in online media or newspapers is a feature characteristic of Armenian media today. Armenian Helsinki Committee Chair Avetik Ishkhanyan considers the coverage of \u201ctraditional\u201d TV stations unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-jdGrztN_08\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Of course, expert opinions can also be subjective, but Ishkhanyan\u2019s assessment is confirmed by Yerevan Press Club\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/ypc.am\/studies\/monitoring-of-armenian-broadcast-media-coverage-of-the-december-6-2015-referendum-on-amendments-to-the-ra-constitution\/\">monitoring results<\/a>: \u201cCloser to the end of the campaign the \u2018yes\u2019 parliamentary camp kept gaining advantage over the \u2018no\u2019 camp. According to the results of the whole monitoring period (October 26 \u2013 December 4), the coverage of the supporters of the reform exceeded the coverage of their opponents roughly 1.5 times, both in terms of airtime volume and frequency of references.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that there was innovation in the television coverage of the referendum: the <em>Ayo ev Voch<\/em> (Yes and No) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X-qZE5BZ4vY\">reality show<\/a> produced by ArmNews and A1+ TV channels. This is how the project was presented on YouTube: \u201cA large-scale television project was implemented for the first time in Armenia \u2014 supporters and opponents of the constitutional amendments went on a joint campaign to the regions, where their meetings and the \u2018Yes and No\u2019 debate could be followed through live broadcasting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is all true, but there were two concerns with the project. Were the members of the \u2018no\u2019 camp members of the pro-government opposition, which would make the debate false? Did the sworn defenders of the \u2018no\u2019 camp have a sufficient supply of trust not to assume that this was another maneuver by the government and so they would avoid participating?<\/p>\n<p>According to the Central Elections Commission\u2019s summary document, the \u2018yes\u2019 supporters won the referendum by a ratio of 63.37% to 32.36%, but new media platforms allow us to compare the official results of the referendum and the public response.<\/p>\n<p>Mentioned in the Civilnet video \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=77hzP3UVEYI\">Election Campaign and Social Media<\/a>\u201d are the \u201cthousands of \u2018dislikes\u2019\u201d compared with the few \u2018likes\u2019 of a \u2018yes\u2019 promotional video by the Republican Party of Armenia\u2019s youth wing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AkTFI8cc8sw\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Understandably, in such cases we\u2019re not talking about the quality of the video, but about the \u2018Yes\u2019 message, about which a user recalled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rzPa1tcj3e0\">ArmComedy<\/a> in his comments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"rtecenter\" dir=\"ltr\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3-58hUy0oH0\" width=\"560\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As for the election observers\u2019 reactions, how the media applies double standards can be shown with one example.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One month before the constitutional referendum, <a href=\"https:\/\/armenpress.am\/arm\/news\/824973\/mijazgayin-ditordnery-khakhtel-en-mak-i-pahanjnery-ognelov.html\">Armenpress<\/a> state agency and <a href=\"https:\/\/armenpress.am\/arm\/news\/824973\/mijazgayin-ditordnery-khakhtel-en-mak-i-pahanjnery-ognelov.html\">Panorama.am<\/a> extensively reported on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epde.org\/tl_files\/EPDE\/EPDE%20PRESS%20RELEASES\/EPDE_Final%20Report_ParlEl_AZ_1.11.2015_fin_EN.pdf\">European Platform for Democratic Elections\u2019 final report<\/a>, which <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epde.org\/en\/newsreader\/items\/azerbaijan-parliamentary-elections-marred-by-political-imprisonmentviolations-of-freedoms-to-assembly-association-and-expression.html\">cast doubt<\/a> on the positive election observation assessments of Azerbaijan\u2019s parliamentary elections. But when the same organization <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epde.org\/en\/newsreader\/items\/armenia-referendum-assessed-as-illegitimate-by-citizen-observers-and-epde-646.html\">announced<\/a> that Armenia\u2019s constitutional referendum results \u201cdo not reflect the free will of Armenian citizens and should not be considered to be legitimate,\u201d the aforementioned media outlets kept silent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Just a few more days of patience and we will be able to talk about coverage of the 2017 parliamentary elections, about the results of yet another \u201cmedia battle\u201d against corruption, which are conditioned by both the degree of professionalism and independence of the media, and the government\u2019s civilized or criminal behavior.<\/p>\n<p class=\"rteright\"><strong>Vahram Martirosyan<br \/>\n(as per materials from the Media Initiatives Center\u2019s Lratun media museum)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Mediamart (Media Battle) is a digital game developed by the Media Initiatives Center [also responsible for this site] for journalism enthusiasts. Independent Armenia\u2019s media already has more than a quarter of a century of history, but media coverage of corruption (the fight against corruption) is more like a game in terms of effectiveness.&nbsp; 1.<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/critique\/2017\/03\/31\/7848\/\"> Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critique","author_posts-vahram-martirosyan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7848","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=7848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}