Among the 180 countries of the world, Armenia ranks 61st in the level of press freedom, at almost the same level as Georgia, Poland and Croatia.
This is attested by the data of the annual report published by one of the world’s most authoritative journalistic organisations, “Reporters Without Borders.”
This document, titled “Press Freedom in the World in 2020,” has on the whole assessed positively the prevailing media atmosphere in Armenia; the report’s authors have characterised it as “Diverse, but not yet independent.”
“Media diversity flourishes in the country, but the government formed after the ‘Velvet Revolution’ that took place in Armenia in 2018 has not been able to overcome the existing polarisation of the media field,” the report’s authors noted, adding, “The editorial policies of the main television channels operating in the country coincide with the interests of their owners. Much remains to be done to achieve transparency regarding journalistic independence and media ownership.”
The report’s authors also recorded observations concerning the fight against the spread of fake news: “There are concerns related to judicial proceedings against journalists, as well as to a certain disproportion in the fight against fake news. The involvement of security forces in the fight against disinformation, the subsequent arrests of some users of social networks, as well as attempts to adopt laws pertaining to [this field] without prior consultation with civil society and journalists, are also concerning.”
“Investigative journalism flourishes within the [Armenian] internet, occupying a serious place in the nationwide campaign against corruption,” the report’s authors noted.
Let us add that in this report of the “Reporters Without Borders” organisation, Armenia has occupied 61st place for the second year already. In 2018, Armenia was 80th.
