1. Armenia the 111th According to Press Freedom Index
The organization Reporters Without Borders has issued another report according to the Press Freedom Index. So in the top five out of 175 countries were Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Reporters Without Borders compiles the Press Freedom Index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world. This year Press Freedom Index 2009 reflects press freedom violations that took place between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009. The Press Freedom Index is not promising in the South Caucasus countries. Georgia ranks the 81st place, Armenia – 111th and Azerbaijan occupies the 146th place.
1. Armenia the 111th According to Press Freedom Index
The organization Reporters Without Borders has issued another report according to the Press Freedom Index. So in the top five out of 175 countries were Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden. Reporters Without Borders compiles the Press Freedom Index every year on the basis of questionnaires that are completed by hundreds of journalists and media experts around the world. This year Press Freedom Index 2009 reflects press freedom violations that took place between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009. The Press Freedom Index is not promising in the South Caucasus countries. Georgia ranks the 81st place, Armenia – 111th and Azerbaijan occupies the 146th place.
This year, the European countries significantly changed their positions, though the first thirteen places in the list are occupied by mostly the European countries, other countries such as France (43), Slovakia (44), Italy (49) have gone down much lower than it was last year, losing the 8th, 37th and 5th places respectively. According to this index the Great Britain and the United States took the 20th and 21st places. Turkey came to be the 122nd, and Iran ranked the 172nd position. “Press freedom must be defended everywhere in the world with the same energy and the same insistence,” said Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Jean-Francois Julliard as his organization issued its eighth annual world Press Freedom Index. He noted also that he is concerned that European democracies such as France, Italy and Slovakia fall steadily in the rankings year after year.
2. Nicol Pashinyan’s Trial Began
Today, the courthouse of Shengavit community, chaired by Judge of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities Mnatsakan Martirosyan, continued the trial, begun on October 20, against the chief editor of opposition newspaper “Haykakan Zhamanak” (“Armenian Times”) Nicol Pashinyan. Pashinyan is charged with part 1 of Article 225 of the RA Criminal Code (“organizing mass disorder”) and Part 1 of Article 316 (“assault against a state representative”).
Wanted Pashinyan surrendered to authorities on July 1. “Accusation made against me is like tale the Death of Kikos,” said Pashinian at the court session, held on October 26. According to News.am, for an hour Pashinyan has been trying to get an explanation from Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan as what, finally, he is accused of. But – to no avail, the judge with meaningless eyes looked around, refusing to comply with the requirements of the law.
3. In Memory of American Journalist Daniel Pearl
As PanARMENIAN.Net reports the Narekatsi Art Center jointly with the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan held an event devoted to the memory of the famous American journalist Daniel Pearl on October 26. American journalist Daniel Pearl was born on October 10, 1963 in Princeton in the family of Ruth and Yehuda Pearls, Israeli scientists who got acquainted in Haifa, and then moved to America. In connection with his Jewish roots there is an assumption that it is one of the primary reasons for his murder. Daniel Pearl was kidnapped on January 23, 2002 in Karachi (Pakistan) and killed on February 1, 2002.
The fact of the journalist’s murder confirmed the videotape obtained by the authorities of Pakistan and the United States, where the footage shows his execution. In the film Pearl demonstrates restraint and manliness. The responsibility for the kidnapping took over a group calling itself the ”National Movement for Restoration of Pakistan’s Sovereignty”, members of which pledged to release Pearl in the case if the U.S. authorities agreed to set free the Talibans and fighters of al-Qaeda. 38-year-old Daniel Pearl, reporter of the Wall Street Journal in Bombay (India), in behalf of the publication left for Pakistan where he had to meet with the head of an extremist group activities of which is related to the terrorist organizations al-Qaeda and Richard Reid, to a terrorist – “shoemaker,” almost on the edge of exploding the aircraft of American Airlines, performing Paris – Miami flight. Marie Jovanovich, the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, attended the event in memory of Daniel Pearl.
4. Hearings on Broadcasting Digitalization Held in Armenia
On October 22 the RA National Assembly held a hearing on “The Broadcasting Digitalization Process and the Consequences of Its Implementation in Armenia”, where speeches were made by the Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan, chairman of the National Commission on Television and Radio Grigor Amalyan, as well as an expert from the Council of Europe, James Briggs. According to the Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan, all TV and Radio companies of Armenia will pass to digital broadcasting from 2015, and in this regard the ministry has already developed the concept of introduction of digital broadcasting in Armenia, which has been submitted to the government consideration. The concept envisages construction of a digital network based on creating an infrastructure of digital broadcasting system of television and radio programs.
The minister noted, the introduction of new technologies will enrich the content of broadcasting, as well as will create possibilities of providing services in the sphere of high technologies, in particular, facilities of connecting to broadband Internet, telephony and videoconferencing. According to him amendments made in September 2008 to the Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting Armenia guarantees the transition to digital broadcasting. As reported by Novosti-Armenia, the licensing procedure for television and radio broadcasting has been revised in accordance with these amendments, which record that all television and radio companies will have to pass the licensing process in 2010. A1plus.am reports, that during the hearings president of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardian was convinced that responsible officials, initiating rather complicated process in the sphere, haven’t taken into consideration quite significant components and therefore Navasardyan doubts that in the specified time, by July 2010, it would be possible to switch to digital broadcasting.
Source: JNews.am, Caucasus Media News Column