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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000363 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KJUS KPAO AM
SUBJECT: MEDIA WATCHDOG NOTES IMPROVED ELECTION COVERAGE 
 
YEREVAN 00000363  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) From April 16 to May 15, the Yerevan Press Club (YPC) 
monitored TV coverage of the mayoral election campaign, and found 
that Armenia's leading seven TV stations were more objective and 
neutral than they were in the run-up to the 2008 presidential 
election.  In spite of the more neutral coverage, YPC noted that the 
overall amount of air time allotted to the opposition Armenian 
National Congress (ANC) was considerably less than its five major 
opponents.  The ANC issued a statement on May 13 condemning Armenian 
Public TV (one of the seven channels monitored) for not reporting on 
its campaign events.  Since then, post has noted more frequent 
appearances by ANC officials, including two programs on Public TV. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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WHAT YPC MONITORED 
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¶2. (U) YPC carried out two stages of monitoring, the first from 
April 16 - May 1 that focused on TV coverage prior to the launch of 
election campaigns on May 2, and the second from May 2 - 15 that 
focused on coverage of the election campaigning.  The research was 
aimed at monitoring the TV companies adherence to the Law on Public 
TV and Radio Broadcasting, the level of public interest in the 
elections, the relevance of information presented to the public by 
the media, and accessibility of TV broadcasting for the candidates. 
The monitoring concentrated on the evening prime time programs of 
seven major TV channels (Public TV - H1, ALM TV, Armenian Second TV 
- H2, Armnews, Yerkir Media TV, Kentron TV, and Shant TV).   YPC 
recorded references to any program that mentioned the names of the 
political parties, party leaders or any other candidate involved in 
the mayoral elections.  Air time devoted to the election campaign 
was also reported. 
 
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RESULTS OF MONITORING 
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¶3.  (U) In the first stage, the marginal People's Party received the 
majority of air time, determined in seconds, YPCwith over 44,000 
seconds (approximately 12.3 hours).  (Comment:  The eccentric head 
of the party, who is also its mayoral candidate, owns ALM TV, and he 
appears nightly on his own TV station, giving hour-long monologues 
to an unseen interviewer.  End Comment.)   The Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation - Dashnaktsutiun (ARF) came in second with 
33,331 seconds (9.25 hours); the ruling Republican Party third with 
12,289 seconds (3.4 hours); Prosperous Armenia fourth with 12,043 
seconds (3.34 hours); Orinats Yerkir fifth with 5,232 seconds (1.45 
hours); the opposition ANC sixth with 4,492 seconds (1.25 hours); 
and the other marginal party in the election, the Armenian Socialist 
Labor Party, in seventh with 127 seconds (2 minutes). 
 
¶4. (U) YPC assessed coverage in the first stage to be on balance 
widely accessible for all parties, and spread among the seven 
stations "relatively evenly."  The report made special mention, 
however, of the coverage given by ALM TV to the People's Party 
candidate, noting that the candidate owns the station. YPC likewise 
noted other party affiliations of the TV companies, stating that 
Armnews Director Menua Harutiunian is a member of the Republican 
Party, Kentron TV favored Prosperous Armenia in its coverage, and 
Yerkir Media, which is owned by an ARF member, focused on the 
Dashnaks' activities more than others. 
 
¶5.  (U) Of media reports on the candidates, 94.6 percent were 
non-editorial.  The parties most mentioned on TV were the Armenian 
Revolutionary Federation, the Republican Party of Armenia, and the 
Prosperous Armenia party.  The Republican Party specifically 
received 22 positive references (all of them concerning the party's 
mayoral candidate and current mayor, Gagik Beglarian).  All of these 
positive references appeared on Armnews.  Prosperous Armenia 
received 19 positive references, all of which appeared on Kentron 
TV. 
 
¶6. (U) In the second stage of its monitoring, YPC found air time to 
be divided between the mayoral candidates as follows:  People's 
Party first with 15.9 hours; Prosperous Armenia second with 9 hours; 
ARF third with 7.23 hours; Orinats Yerkir fourth with 5.9 hours; the 
Republican Party fifth with 4.9 hours; the ANC sixth with 2.6 hours; 
and the Socialist Labor Party seventh with 1.14 hours. 
 
¶7.  (U) YPC assessed 97 percent of the references that were made to 
candidates during this stage to be as neutral.  The Republican Party 
received 11 positive references and 1 negative (5 of the 11 positive 
references appeared on Armnews).  The People's Party received 10 
 
YEREVAN 00000363  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
positive and 0 negative references (all of the positive references 
appeared on ALM TV), and Prosperous Armenia received 9 positive and 
0 negative references (5 of the 9 appeared on Kentron TV).  All 
negative references to candidates and parties were opinions 
expressed by participants of TV programs, and not by journalists. 
 
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ANC CRIES FOUL, AND YPC BACKS UP ONE CHARGE 
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¶8. (SBU) On May 13, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) issued a 
statement condemning Armenian Public TV for providing unequal and 
unbalanced coverage during the election campaign, saying that it 
threatened the legitimacy of the elections.  (Note:  Public TV is 
the number one news source for approximately 70 percent of the 
viewing audience in Armenia.  End Note.)   The ANC alleged that 
while Public TV ignored the ANC's campaign activities, it was 
providing "wide coverage" of the campaign activities of other 
parties contesting the election. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In releasing their results on May 22, YPC backed up ANC 
claims that it was receiving less air time than other parties. 
According to YPC, ANC during the monitored period received 
considerably less coverage than all other serious election 
contenders.  Interestingly, Post observed an uptick in TV 
appearances by ANC leaders after May 15, with two of their leaders 
appearing for 30 minute interviews on Kentron TV, and their number 
two candidate in the mayoral election appearing on Public TV for a 
20-minute interview aired live during prime time on the evening of 
May 22.  (Comment:  The leader of the ANC, ex-President Levon 
Ter-Petrossian, has refused at least several requests to appear on 
television during the campaign. LTP's aides have attributed this to 
LTP's belief that he will not get a fair hearing.  Our take is that 
LTP weakens his claim of a double standard on media coverage if he 
himself refuses to take advantage of the opportunities presented to 
him.  End Comment.) 
 
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USERS OF PAID AIR TIME 
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¶10.  (U) Prosperous Armenia registered the highest level of usage of 
paid TV time (about 4 hours) provided by TV companies for the 
election.  Paid time provided by Yerkir Media was wholly used by the 
Armenian Revolutionary Federation.  All 7 parties took advantage of 
the free daily political advertisement possibilities on Public TV 
(H1). 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶11. (SBU) Unbalanced, unequal media coverage in Armenian elections 
is a perennial issue.  The norm is for the ruling party and its 
partners to dominate air time and good press,  relying on Public TV 
or pro-government, private TV companies to carry their water.  YPC's 
results on the current media coverage, therefore, come as a glimmer 
of hope in a campaign that has had little to boast about so far. 
The numbers indicate that the ANC has a valid point when it 
complains that it receives less coverage than its opponents. 
Compared with the 2008 presidential campaign, however, there has 
been significant improvement.  The blatant smear campaign run by 
pro-governmental stations against LTP and his supporters during the 
presidential campaign has not been in evidence this time around. 
ANC heavyweights have been given opportunities to make their case in 
prime time television, and - with the notable exception of LTP 
himself -- they have done so.  Media coverage of the campaign has 
been far from perfect, but has certainly exceeded the (admittedly 
low) bar set in previous Armenian elections. 
 
 
YOVANOVITCH