YPC Honorary President on on mass media self-regulation 

ArmInfo. Discussions have begun in Armenia on draft amendments to the law "On the Mass Media," which  are based on the idea of self-regulation of the media.

Commenting on the draft new law to ArmInfo, Honorary President of the  Yerevan Press Club, Chairman of the Supervisory Board on Media Ethics  Boris Navasardyan noted that in order for state interference in  internal media issues to be minimized, it is necessary for the media  to formulate for themselves, what obligations they undertake, how  they are ready to resolve information disputes that arise with  citizens and government institutions.

This is what the new bill seeks to provide. Work on this area  continues, which is necessary in order to free the media from  everyday supervision by the state when solving various kinds of  problems related to the content of materials: - slander, insults,  hate speech, etc. It is very important, Navasardyan continued, that  the media take responsibility for public accountability.

The honorary head of the YPC agreed that the bill is focused on the  long term, but its main idea is that self- regulation mechanisms will  work to the extent that the media themselves are ready for it. The  document contains certain criteria by which it will be possible to  determine whether a given media outlet or a given segment of the  media community is ready for self-regulation. "If they are not ready  or not interested, then everything will work as before. However,  there is hope that there will be some progress on this issue, if not  immediately, then after some time. When the harmonization of  legislation occurs and self-regulation, a significant part of the  problems and disputes that arise during the activities of the media  will be resolved by them themselves through the structures that they  themselves will form," Navasardyan said.

He added that to solve this problem, a transitional stage is  envisaged, during which the question of how ready the media will be  for new regulations will be decided. During the transition period,  this work will be coordinated by representatives of those  journalistic organizations, unions and associations that, in  accordance with the law, have been operating for at least the last 10  years. After this, those self-regulatory structures that will be  formed and will be tested for compliance with the approved criteria  will themselves gather, for example, at their congress, and elect a  media council that will subsequently coordinate all efforts to form a  self-regulatory system.

Answering the question about what this will give to the media in  terms of some benefits, the honorary chairman of the YPC noted that  there are several ideas on this issue. For example, we can talk about  encouraging media that are ready to adopt a system of self-regulation  and accountability to society. In particular, it is planned to  introduce a provision into the Civil Code according to which the  consideration of legal claims when claims arise can be postponed for  a certain period, that is, the countdown of the time limit when you  can go to court will begin not from the moment of publication, but  later.

During this period, with the consent of the person, the issue may be  transferred to the self-regulation system. "This will give the  opportunity to a person who has a problem with the media to try  another option for resolving the dispute, and if it doesn't work out,  then only then go to court. On the other hand, the media also has the  opportunity to resolve problems through dialogue, and not end up in  court. This, in my opinion, is the most effective mechanism, although  other options are being considered, including accreditation by  government agencies. If the media are part of the self-regulatory  system, then they do not go through some of the procedures that are  provided for accreditation. since it will be considered that these  media obviously meet the necessary requirements," Navasardyan said,  adding that this is still only a preliminary version, which can be  considered controversial.

The honorary head of the YPC noted that the document must convince  both the government and the legislative body in accordance with all  the requirements of the country's Constitution and international  obligations. It is important that the media community recognizes the  usefulness of the initiative, and for this reason discussions will  continue. It will take several more months for the bill to be put  into circulation.