INTERIM REPORT ON MONITORING THE COVERAGE OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS-2008 BY BROADCAST MEDIA OF ARMENIA

The coverage of presidential elections-2008 by 8 broadcast media of Armenia is monitored by Yerevan Press Club with the participation of “TEAM” Research Center and with the financial assistance of the Open Society Institute. The study covers the period of pre-election promotion, January 21 - February 17, 2008.
THIS INTERIM REPORT includes the period of January 31 - February 9, 2008. As compared to the previous ten days (January 21-30, 2008), during this study period the volume of editorial coverage of the election campaign has somewhat increased. This, however, occurred due to the coverage of the RA presidency candidates, distinctly enjoying the greatest media attention: these are the RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosian, the RA Prime Minister, candidate of the Republican Party of Armenia Serge Sargsian, candidate of “Orinats Yerkir” party Artur Baghdasarian, candidate of Popular Party Tigran Karapetian, candidate of “Dashnaktsutiun” party Vahan Hovhannesian, candidate of “National Unity” party Artashes Geghamian and the candidate of National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukian. Self-nominated Arman Melikian and the candidate of “National Accord” party Aram Harutiunian are somewhat behind the leading seven. It should be noted, however, that Tigran Karapetian, following the tradition, received most of his coverage on “ALM” TV channel that he owns, and if he had received as much attention on “his own” air, as he did in average on seven other channels studied, he would have been rated the 8th, between Arman Melikiаn and Aram Harutiunian.
The gap between the candidates who received the most and the least aggregate (on all 8 media studied) coverage have somewhat increased, too: 37,016 sec. for Levon Ter-Petrosian and 8,725 sec. for Aram Harutiunian (the proportion here is more than 4 to 1, while during the previous decade the proportion between the most and the least covered candidates made less than 2.5 to 1).
The RA First President received most of the coverage on 8 channels studied during the 10 days presented in this report. He is followed by Serge Sargsian - 32,786 sec. (of these 9,451 sec. were the coverage of his activities as a Prime Minister). If the coverage of the official activities is excluded from the total airtime allocated to the candidates, in terms of aggregate airtime Serge Sargsian would fall behind three more candidates - Artur Baghdasarian (29,963 sec.), Tigran Karapetian (25,706 sec.) and Vahan Hovhannesian (25,601 sec.).
AT THE SAME TIME Levon Ter-Petrosian remains the undisputed leader in terms of connotational references (146), or, more specifically, in terms of negative references (143 versus 3 positive ones). The connotation references to Serge Sargsian are frequent, too (83 positive and 24 negative). These two candidates, similarly to all the previous monitoring stages (the monitoring of 8 broadcast media was administered also ahead of the election campaign, in October-December 2007), received polarized coverage. Of the remaining candidates the positive balance of connotational references is observed for Tigran Karapetian (8-0) and Vahan Hovhannesian (14-0), the negative one - for Artur Baghdasarian (11 positive and 16 negative) and Vazgen Manukian (4-8), neutral or almost neutral - for Artashes Geghamian (3-4), Arman Melikian (0-1) and Aram Harutiunian (0-0). At the same time all the positive references to Tigran Karapetian were recorded by the monitoring group on the air of “ALM”, and 11 out of 14 positive references of Vahan Hovhannesian - on the air of “Yerkir-Media”. In other words, a positive balance is held only by the candidates of “party of power” and/or owning (enjoying support) one of the leading TV companies. This circumstance signifies that the problem of unequal conditions in the editorial coverage of election campaigns remains quite urgent in Armenia.
TO A GREATER EXTENT the existing polarity of coverage of the two candidates (Serge Sargsian and Levon Ter-Petrosian) was displayed on “Kenton” TV channel. Sargsian here was mentioned 19 times in a positive and never in a negative context, and Ter-Petrosian, respectively, 0 and 44 times. 9 of the positive references to the Prime Minister and 30 of the negative references to the First President were made in “What Newspapers Write About” TV program. The picture of this press review practically repeated that of the previous 10 days. As it is noted in numerous researches of the Armenian media market, most print media in Armenia have open and diverse (often radical) political stance. In particular, in the course of the current election campaign the newspaper stances diverge dramatically, primarily as concerns the candidacies of the Prime Minister and the First President. The indicator of references to Sargsian and Ter-Petrosian, as quoted above, proves that when addressing the press coverage of these two politicians, the authors of “What Newspaper Write About” program display extreme bias.
The First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, similarly to the previous ten days, displayed the balance required by law only in distribution of the airtime, but not in the nature of candidate coverage (this concerns again Serge Sargsian and Levon Ter-Petrosian). During the 20 days of pre-election promotion studied the Prime Minister was referred to in positive context 32 times and in negative context - 3 times. The First President has 27 negative references and none - positive. The contrast on Public Radio of Armenia is a little milder: here Sargsian's balance of connotational references for 20 days is 14-0, while that of Ter-Petrosian is 0-16. In October-December 2007 the Public Radio was, on the contrary, more unbalanced. The special approach to the coverage of these two politicians on the Public Radio stands out also against the fact that the remaining candidates throughout the 20 days of pre-election promotion were mentioned solely in neutral context. On the First Channel of the Public Television, too, seven other candidates received few connotational references: throughout the ten days (January 31 - February 9, 2008) only 3% of the total number of their references had connotational coloring. For Ter-Petrosian this figure made 28%, and for Sargsian - 18.8%. The figures quoted show that the journalists of the Public TV and Radio Company have the skills of impartial reporting, but do not always use them.
Similarly to the previous monitoring stages, this trend of coverage of Serge Sargsian and Levon Ter-Petrosian that has probably become the main specialty of the current election campaign, was displayed in the work of all broadcast media studied, except for “Yerkir Media”, during the past ten days, too. On this TV channel both the Prime Minister and the First President have a negative balance of connotational references for the 10 days.
During the pre-election promotion another similarity in the news policy of the seven TV channels studied has been recorded: they all air reports about the pre-election events of Serge Sargsian one day after they had been held, while the rallies of the other candidates are covered, as a rule, on the same day. In this case, too, the coverage of the election campaign by “Yerkir Media” TV channel is somewhat out of the trend: here the events of Sargsian appear on the air quite irregularly, but are still broadcast the next day. Hence, the monitoring group is induced to reiterate its hypothesis about a coordinated (or directed) policy of covering election campaigns in Armenia by most of the leading broadcast media. The Public Radio of Armenia (35,178 sec.) and “Kentron” (30,981 sec.), similarly to the preceding decade, paid the most attention to the election-related subjects. These are followed by “ALM” (30,276 sec.), “Yerkir Media” (26,802 sec.) and the Second Armenian TV Channel (26,581 sec.). The least attention to the elections was paid by “Shant” (21,310 sec.) and “Armenia” (20,113 sec.) TV channels.
SIMILARLY TO THE PREVIOUS TEN DAYS, the involvement of presidency candidates (and the representatives of their election headquarters) in the discussion programs of the media studied remained low. Despite the heat of the pre-election promotion, on eight channels during the ten days candidates or their representatives took part in such programs only 28 times, less than on January 21-30, 2008 (36 times). Here it should be noted that the monitoring group did not take into account the interviews of the candidates on the air of Public Radio as these were broadcast before 17.00, i.e., the time when the editorial coverage was not studied. As it follows from discussions of this issue with media representatives, the reason for this is not so much the reluctance of broadcasters to invite the candidates, but rather the unreadiness of some politicians to engage in public dialogue.
The rarest participants of “guest in studio” programs were Serge Sargsian (2 times in 20 days after the launch of the pre-election promotion) and Levon Ter-Petrosian (3 times) - or, rather, in all these cases, these were not they themselves, but their representatives. The greatest openness during the same period was displayed by Tigran Karapetian (11 programs, 5 of them being on “ALM” TV channel), Vahan Hovhannesian and Vazgen Manukian (9 each), Arman Melikian, Artur Baghdasarian and Artashes Geghamian (8 each), Aram Harutiunian (6). Similarly to the previous stages of monitoring, the broadcast media were little interested in the opinion of those Armenian NGOs, who observe various aspects of electoral process.
AS CONCERNS the pre-election promotional materials (political advertising), the monitoring gives no ground to speak about any obstruction for them on the channels studied. All candidates use the free air they are entitled to the First Channel of the Public Television. By the results of the 20 days studied, the leader for the aggregate (on all 8 channels) volume of promotional materials is Vahan Hovhannesian (30,052 paid and free seconds), followed by Artur Baghdasarian (18,129 sec.) and Levon Ter-Petrosian (18,075 sec.). Serge Sargsian was only the fourth by this indicator (16,011 sec.). Three of the candidates listed (except Artur Baghdasarian) reduced the number of promotional materials during January 31 - February 9 as compared to the previous ten days (January 21-30).
The paid air of the First Channel of the Public Television was the most attractive for the candidates during the second decade, too. It is followed by “Armenia”, “ALM”, “Shant”, Second Armenian TV Channel, “Yerkir Media”, “Kentron”. The least attractive of all was the air of the Public Radio.
(Quantitative results of the monitoring are enclosed in tables.)
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE STUDY
The monitoring covers 8 broadcast media: 4 national TV companies - First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, “ALM”, “Armenia”, Second Armenian TV Channel; 3 TV companies of Yerevan - “Yerkir Media”, “Kentron”, “Shant”; 1 national radio company - Public Radio of Armenia.
The monitoring subject are all programs of 8 broadcast media, aired at 17.00-24.00. This is due to the time of broadcasting the pre-election promotional materials of the RA presidency candidates on the TV channels. In particular, on the First Channel of the Public Television of Armenia, in accordance with the decision of the RA CEC of January 21, 2008, the pre-election promotion of the candidates is broadcast starting from 17.15. In the case of Public Radio of Armenia the airtime, allocated for pre-election promotion, is studied from 13.30, because, in accordance with the same decision of the CEC, it is at that time that PRA begins broadcasting the pre-election promotion of the candidates. As to the editorial coverage of PRA, it was studied, similarly to the other channels, at 17.00-24.00. The programs that started but did not end before 17.00 are not studied. The programs that started but did not end till 24.00 are studied in full, until their end.
The monitoring object were nine RA presidency candidates. At the same time if a representative of an election headquarters/a proxy of the candidate appears in the piece, and this status is specified, the reference/connotation and the airtime are recorded as pertaining to this candidate.
Monitoring objectives: to determine and define through analysis of quantitative data
- the level of attention of broadcast media of Armenia to presidential elections;
- how adequate the broadcast media are in informing the electorate about RA presidency candidates, in ensuring their access to air to express views and opinions, during pre-election promotion.
To meet these objectives, methodologies of qualitative and quantitative monitoring are applied. The qualitative monitoring includes the analysis of the enforced RA legislation on elections, on media and the normative acts, regulating the coverage of election campaigns, study of the remarks of the candidates and their headquarters regarding the media activities, the appeals to CEC, courts and other appropriate bodies regarding the media activity issues at election time. Public statements of journalists and politicians about election coverage are traced, interviews are held on this subject. These components of a qualitative research allow gaining more insight into the processes, to understand the trends and adequately assess the quantitative findings of the monitoring. Quantitative monitoring includes counting and measuring of programs in media directly.
Monitoring Methodology
All materials of the airtime studied are subdivided into two types:
1. Editorial coverage;
2. Pre-election promotion (political advertising), allocated to the presidency candidate.
1. The main study unit is TV/radio piece.
2. Monitors record and count the references to candidates in the editorial coverage of the broadcast media studied. The number of positive (+), negative (-) and neutral (0) references to candidates is also counted. The connotational (positive, negative) references are seen to be the ones in the pieces that leave an undoubtedly positive or negative overall impression of the candidate on the audience. In the cases when the connotation is not that certain, the reference is recorded as neutral. All doubts of the monitor are interpreted towards recording a neutral reference. Moreover, if the piece informs that any person/organization has publicly announced its support/or lack of support to the politician nominated as a candidate for presidency, the reference to this politician is recorded as positive/negative, respectively.
If a representative of election headquarters/proxy of a candidate appears in the piece, with this status being specified, the reference/connotation is recorded as pertaining to this candidate, too.
Each TV and radio piece records only one reference and only one connotational sign for every candidate.
Any appearance of the candidate in a TV shot, which is not a part of the piece where the candidate is mentioned, is also considered to be a reference. If the appearance in the shot is a part of the piece where the candidate is mentioned, this does not count as an additional reference.
The measurement of these categories is made in units.
3. The monitors also record and measure the material volume, i.e., the airtime (in seconds), allocated to presidential candidates for expressing their views, opinions as well as judgments, narration about them made by others, in editorial coverage of the broadcast media studied. If a representative of an election headquarters/proxy of a candidate appears in the piece, with this status being specified, the airtime he receives is also recorded for the candidate. Apart from recording the general airtime, allocated to the candidate, the capacity in which the candidate appears is also studied. Thus, the airtime (in seconds) is differentiated and classed appropriately, according to whether it was allocated to the candidate for the coverage of his:
1. Official and professional activities;
2. Activities that are not directly related to professional or official duties.
4. The monitors also record and measure the volume of materials, i.e., airtime (in seconds), allocated to the presidency candidate for pre-election promotion in broadcast media studied (17.00-24.00, for Public Radio - since 13.30 till 24.00), marked on TV and radio channels as “pre-election promotion”. The volume of paid and free political advertising is measured separately. The political advertising slot that started but did not end till 17.00 is not monitored. The political advertising slot that started but did not end till 24.00 is studied in full, until its end. An exception is made only for PTA First Channel and the Public Radio of Armenia, which, according to the RA CEC decision of January 21, 2008, in case of a technical necessity can shift the political advertising start time by 30 minutes. Hence, in such cases the slot of political advertising on the First Channel and the Public Radio is to be monitored respectively from 16.45 and 13.00.
5. The monitors record the participants of discussion programs (interviews, guest in studio, talk shows) for the TV and radio channels studied by a separate list, mentioning the TV and radio channel, the title of the program, the name(s) and position(s) of the participants invited. If the discussion program participant is not the candidate himself, but representative of his election headquarters/proxy, and in the program this status is specified, in the list of discussion program participants the program is recorded as featuring the candidate.
Yerevan Press Club expresses its gratitude to Internews Armenia for assistance in monitoring.

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