Vassilis Maragos: Armenia`s media field continues to remain  polarized, despite positive trends in WPFI

ArmInfo.The media field in Armenia continues to remain polarized, despite the positive trends recorded in the  World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) published by Reporters Without Borders. Head of the EU delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, stated on May 3 in Yerevan at the discussion on the topic "The media on the way to gaining the trust of the audience."

The European diplomat expressed his conviction that World Press  Freedom Day is a good opportunity to once again recall the important  role that free media plays for society and how important freedom of  speech is.

In this vein, he noted with regret that in the era of rapidly  developing information technologies, citizens are faced with a huge  amount of misinformation, distorted information, manipulative  information, and simply lies.

According to him, the role of quality media is increasing in these  realities. "In these conditions, we consider the activities of  high-quality media more important than ever, which will ensure both a  high-quality news field and an increase in citizens' awareness with  their activities. High-quality journalism allows us to increase the  accountability of authorities and citizens," Ambassador Maragos  noted.

The diplomat also especially noted the role of brave journalists, who  sometimes, even at the cost of their lives and freedom, convey the  truth to their audience.

"Armenia has recorded progress in the World Press Freedom Index -  this is the result of the joint painstaking work of all of you.  Despite the presence of pluralism of opinions in the media field, we  also see a number of persistent problems. The media field continues  to be polarized, and trends in the spread of hate words persist. We  also record anti-journalistic tendencies, but this should not  frighten representatives of this field.  The media must continue to  present balanced, reliable, unbiased information, without false  narratives," Mr.  Maragos said.

The head of the EU delegation recalled that quality media plays an  important role in the development of a healthy democracy. In this  vein, he drew attention to the fact that today the European Union and  Armenia are developing a new partnership program, where the issue  related to the activities of the media will occupy an important  niche. Vassilis Maragos noted that they attach great importance to  media freedom, since it is free media that is the key to the  sustainable development of democratic states.

At the event, the "Media Quality and Sustainability Initiative"  project was announced, which is being implemented by the Media  Initiatives Center in collaboration with the Yerevan Press Club, the  Media Diversity Institute and the International Media Support (IMS)  organization with funding from the European Union.

Honorary President of the Yervean Press Club Boris Navasardyan said  that when implementing this project, their attention will be focused  on the need to reduce government interference in the activities of  the media and media self-regulation.

Armenia improved its position by 6 points in the World Press Freedom  Index, published today by the Reporters Without Borders organization,   taking 43rd place among 179 countries, against 49 a year earlier.