Russia Favors Armenia in Information Policy: Mariam Hovsepyan

In the information war, we have outperformed Azerbaijan in the field of Russian media. Many were making subjective analyses and claiming that Azerbaijan was leading in Russia’s media landscape. However, scientific studies show the opposite, both during the 44-day war and in general in 2020. This is stated by political scientist Mariam Hovsepyan on her Facebook page.

Senior researcher Alexey Tokarev from MGIMO University, affiliated with the Russian Foreign Ministry, has conducted studies based on the Russian 'Medialogia' and American 'LexisNexis' information databases, which provide an overview of the media situation throughout the war. According to the results of the first study, Russian media covered Armenia 61.8% of the time, while Azerbaijan received 57.1%. This results in a 4.7% advantage for Armenia. Meanwhile, the second round of studies showed a nearly 10% difference in favor of Armenia, at a ratio of 50.1% to 41.2%.

The overwhelming majority of electronic media addressing Armenia comes from the infrastructure of the media giant 'RIA Novosti'. Therefore, it can be concluded that Russia has favored Armenia in its information policy. This is particularly noteworthy considering that representatives of Azerbaijani state and private businesses in Moscow, such as Food City, allocate significant funds that allowed for the operation of seven information offices in Moscow. They were prepared to pay $30,000 or more for each anti-Armenian article, provided that the author was Russian. During the war period alone, they spent $20 million.

It becomes clear why new Russian politicians aligned with these interests have emerged. Despite the enormous difference in resources, both during the 44 days of war and throughout the war in July, the Azerbaijani side lags behind. Even though all funds were managed and controlled by Azerbaijan’s ambassador in Moscow, Polad Bulbuloglu, Russian media covered him significantly less—3,390 times—compared to Armenia's ambassador, Vardan Toghanyan, who was covered 4,457 times.

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