Armenia National Platform Statement on the Broadcasting of Russia 1 and the First Channel in the country

Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF) is deeply concerned with the programmes and reports overtly propagating xenophobia and spawning hatred between nations, broadcasted by Russian TV channels Russia 1 and the First Channel which are rebroadcasted in the Republic of Armenia on the basis of intergovernmental agreements. This phenomenon has become more evidential in the context of recent political developments around Ukraine.

In this regard, there has been the noteworthy decision of the Russian Public Collegium for Press Complaints in response to the complaint filed by the Ukrainian Commission for Journalistic Ethics against the “Weakly News” (“Vesti Nedeli”) programme of Russia 1 TV channel (aired on December 8, 2013) and its anchorman Dmitry Kiselyov. The Public Collegium has characterized the disputed story of the programme as “propagandistic in style”, “with fake video footage” and “low quality, at times offensive” TV material which “does not contribute to trust between nations”. It is no coincidence that the name of Dmitry Kiselyov has been included in the list of “undesirable persons” for the EU. Calls for suspension of broadcasting of the Russian TV channels, particularly news and political programmes, which carry out an aggressive campaign to ‘manipulate’ the public opinion, were made in a number of countries of EU and Eastern Partnership.

Statement

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