Was the Journalist Not Engaging in Professional Activity at That Moment? Ombudsman on Journalist-Minister Altercation

Today, during a session of the National Assembly, the Chair of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights, Arman Tatoyan, was asked by MP Sargsyan Khandanian from the "My Step" faction to address an incident in March of this year between former Minister Hakob Arshakyan and journalist Pailak Fahradyan. This incident had prompted a statement from the Ombudsman.

"Do you think that a journalist's professional activities are absolute, that they have no limitations? Do you think that in any case a person engaged in journalistic activity is carrying out their professional duties, and whether the topic or question with which the journalist approached the minister emanated from their professional work and represented a topic of public interest? Was there any other way to articulate that question?" the MP asked.

In response, Arman Tatoyan asked whether, at that moment, the journalist was indeed not engaging in professional activities. "Or for instance, being a journalist is such a profession that after 6 PM or during breaks, one is not a journalist—isn’t that right? Being a journalist is always work. The journalist approached at that moment, posed questions to a public figure, a member of the Government, and that is a matter of public interest. I consider that to be professional journalistic work," he stated.

The MP disagreed, noting that at that moment the journalist was not conducting professional activities because the journalist was asking the minister why he was having lunch at that hour. "This means that depending on the question, the person is a journalist, right? Now, if the journalist approaches and asks, 'Why is the color of your tie that color?' that does not constitute journalistic professional activity, does it?" Arman Tatoyan queried, to which the MP maintained that this was not professional journalistic work.

"Unfortunately, in Armenia, the professional duties of journalists have stepped outside the boundaries of the profession, and sadly, in our country, many people involved in journalism defend journalism and not the profession itself," he remarked.