ArmInfo.The new government of Armenia has no "favorites" among the media, and for us democracy is an exceptional value. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this on March 19 at a press conference, referring to the publication of one of the MPs of the My Step bloc, in which the parliamentarian defined a circle of "reliable" media.
According to the Prime Minister, there is a global problem in countering fake news in the world. This problem, as the head of the Armenian government pointed out, is particularly relevant for countries that have declared freedom of speech to be one of the highest values of democracy, where there is no censorship and persecution of the media.
But in order to ensure freedom of speech and the media, including its financial independence, the Armenian government intends to establish a "Media Assistance Fund." To ensure the full independence of the Fund and its supported media, the government intends to attract private funds. "The Fund ill not operate with funds from the state budget in order to exclude any levers of state influence on the media," Pashinyan said.
At the same time, the Prime Minster touched upon publications that the situation related to the possible expulsion of the media from the territories they occupy today is the revenge of the head of government. "Let's get rid of the framework of traditional logic. I don't revenge anyone and I don't intend to, especially considering that I myself was one of you at one time," the PM said. According to him, the new government of Armenia will not take action against the media, except in cases of gross violation of the law.
Earlier it was reported that a number of Armenian media outlets that are located in the building at 1/3 Byuzand, located on the balance of the Yerevan Municipality, received a notification from the Municipality administration, in which they were unreasonably proposed to leave the occupied territories within five days. Similar notifications were also sent to the current media at Arshakunyats 2 and Isahakyan 28, from the State Property Management Committee of the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic of Armenia.