Armenia improves press freedom rank by 19 notches: RSFApril 18, 2019 - 10:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia has significantly improved the state of press freedom in the past year, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says. After the “velvet revolution," the country has jumped 19 places to 61st among 180 countries in the world rankings in 2019, RSF's annual World Press Freedom Index revealed on Thursday, April 18. The “velvet revolution” has loosened the government’s grip on TV channels, the report says. In April-May 2018, tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets to demand the resignation of former authorities. In the wake of the civil disobedience campaign, then Prime Minister and ex-President Serzh Sargsyan resigned, while opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was ultimately elected the country’s new PM. “The new media served as an echo chamber for the “velvet revolution” in the spring of 2018 that brought a former journalist to power. The media landscape is diverse but polarized and the editorial policies of the main TV channels coincide with the interests of their owners. In other words, journalistic independence and transparent media ownership continue to be major challenges,” RSF maintains. “The new government must try to recover the opportunities that were lost in the transition to digital TV, which has paradoxically restricted the number of regional channels. Investigative journalism, which is flourishing online, is well placed to play a major role in a national offensive against corruption.” Neighboring Azerbaijan, meanwhile, has plunged three notches to take the 166th spot, while Georgie comes in the 60th. Related links: Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |