The flaws in the journalistic ethics of the Russian media are not a secret for anybody. But Russian media coverage of recent events taking place in Armenia is simply ridiculous and unserious. We will mention several items that draw special attention: 

1.       Comparisons with Maidan:Probably the strangest explanation of recent events in Armenia is their comparison with the Ukranian “Maidan”. For instance, the Russian “Rossiya 1” TV channelcompared the Armenian protests against hikes in electricity rates with Ukranian and Georgian movements. “The latest events taking place in Armenia remind of the first stage of the Ukranian coup”, mentioned Igor Morozov. Following the same logic, any protest in the world can be called “Maidan”. Protesters in Ukraine and Armenia have completely different demands. The main justifications of such a comparison are the fact of informing people through social networks and anti-Russian calls. Actually informing people through social networks has been popular for the last 5-7 years. Thus, this kind of opinions can’t resist any reasoned criticism.

2.       Protesters attacked the police: According to the same “Rossiya 1”, police used force against the protesters after they attacked the police, and the most active attackers were detained. However, the videos that show the use of water cannons clearly demonstrate that none of the protestors used force against the police. Hence, discussing this point is simply unnecessary.

3.       Protesters were armed: “Rossiya 1” has made such statements using terms like “radical”, “attack on the police”, “11 injured policemen”, “activists are armed with knives, kuckle dusters and metal batons”, etc. In reality, there are only civilians among injured people, 5 of which are still in intensive care units.

 

4.       Protests were provoked by the US: Such statements are absolutely ridiculous. The Russian company has eventually decided to raise the tariffs for electricity as a result of its ineffective management. Before making such “sensational” statements, a mass media should first of all bring specific proofs. «Rossiya24» TV channel went so far as to claim that sitting next to each other and taking photos of the police are a result of American trainings.

5.       Protests are anti-Russian: Russian media that make such statements seem to have a special intention to interpret events in Armenia exclusively from the perspective of Armenia-Russia-West relations and interests. Hence, Russian media are ready to invent a US-funded conspiracy against Russia only for saving the reputation of one corrupt Russian company. In fact, it is not surprising as the same distortion of information happened in Permyakov’s case in January.

Eventually weare left with the hope that the professionalism of Russian media will improve with time and they will start to respect the journalisiticethics and truth.   

 

Anna Pambukhchyan,
“Union of Informed Citizens”

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