June 21, 2006 - 18:06 AMT
Report on Armenian Media to Be Submitted to OSCE
Upon compellation of visit to Armenia a report on freedom of the media in the republic and recommendations for improvement of the situation will be submitted to the OSCE, Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media stated in Yerevan. In his words, the report will be free for press and NGOs interested in the issue. The OSCE Representative remarked that some positive tendencies can be observed in the printing media. "They furnish a wider scope of opinions, what cannot be said about the electronic media, specifically the TV channels. However the positions of the printing media are weak as compared to the TV," he said adding that journalists are not persecuted or assaulted in Armenia and this is a considerable achievement. At that he remarked that the National Commission for Television and Radio formed by the President needs reorganization. "The chapter on the National Commission for Television and Radio should be changed in accord with the reviewed Constitution. The Commission should be more open and independent. We have submitted out proposals on the issue," the OSCE Representative said. Mr Haraszti also remarked that there are many TV channels in Armenia but all of them furnish almost the same information.