The Real Story behind Yerevan’s Homeless Shelter
Aram, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online
Armenia Now has just published an article on the opening of Yerevan’s first ever shelter for the homeless. Unfortunately, their story is very far removed from the truth so if you really want to know how Hetq Online, Yerkir Media TV, an anonymous Diasporan donor, and a priest forced the government to open the shelter, you can be read all my posts at:
Certainly, it has to be said that if there was one person who almost single-handedly brought public and government attention towards the plight of the homeless in Yerevan it is Edik Baghdasarian, Editor-in-Chief of Hetq Online. Ironically, Armenia Now knows this all too well, so I’m surprised that they missed the opportunity to report the real story.
Have you talked to them? Why would they do that?
Comment by artyom — February 25, 2006 @ 9:22 am
There was enough coverage last year and this winter on Hetq Online, Yerkir Media and of the struggle to get the homeless shelter opened for Armenia Now to cover this story properly. That they didn’t either casts doubts on their short-term memory, their abilitiy to research a story properly, or raises the issue of “competition” between media outlets.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that something like this has happened, and it won’t be the last.
I know Edik and John knew each other at Armenian International Magazine and that they split on less than favorable terms, so maybe that’s a reason, I don’t know. However, it is not for me to ask why they wrote an article that doesn’t give the real story behind the opening of the shelter as it’s for Armenia Now to avoid that situation in the first place.
If Armenia Now wants to explain why it covered the story like this, they can always leave a comment here.
Comment by Onnik — February 25, 2006 @ 12:22 pm
Groong have posted the letter at:
http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg138915.html
I hope Armenia Now will respond to the points raised and explain why they apparently (knowingly?) overlooked some significant details regarding the circumstances surrounding the opening of the first homeless shelter in Yerevan.
Comment by Onnik — February 28, 2006 @ 8:26 am