Media Outlets Discontented by My Reminders Have Something to Hide: Arman Yeghoyan

The spokesperson for the acting Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, Arman Yeghoyan, made a post on Facebook, clarifying why he addressed Article 12 of the media law.

“Some representatives of certain media outlets are surprised as to why I suddenly recalled Article 12 of the law on mass media, titled 'Transparency of Funding Sources,' according to which:

A media organization is obliged to publish its annual financial report by March 31 of the current year, under the title 'Annual Report,' regarding the media organization's activities, indicating the overall income and the share of donations.

Please note that the law imperatively states that the media organization must PUBLISH this report, and not just present it to any governmental body, but rather PUBLISH it! Therefore, it must be made accessible to every citizen.

It is not coincidental that this provision is included in the legislation; mass media must be accountable to the public in the same way that public servants and state officials are. It is not surprising that all media outlets that have published their annual reports willingly provided them, while those who, for some reasons, forgot or were even unaware of this norm thanked for the reminder and recollection.

I can assume that the media outlets that are discontented with my reminder have something to hide from their readers, which is quite concerning. Therefore, once again, I publicly remind everyone about the existence of Article 12 of the law on mass media,” he wrote.