Ultimately, however, whether RFE/RL receives it’s money from the U.S. Government and for whatever reason it was established, it’s news is the best that I have access to and I think most people here would agree. Any restrictions on its activities here would be a loss for Armenia and anyone who wants reliable and timely information. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but almost everyone I know who follows events here agree. Besides, if the ulterior motive for RFE/RL is to promote democracy by covering issues that other outlets don’t, who can argue against that?

But, I do believe the sponsors of this bill couldn’t care less about the RFE in terms of its ideological influence in Armenia and are merely looking at ways to garner more income for their private coffers.

Finally, any such blatant attempt by the authorities to limit the “free press” should be criticized as a violation of the law and the first step down a possible slippery slope of greater constraints on the media, whether that media has a political agenda or not.

No, I don’t listen to the radio broadcasts, but the loss of its English language text news service would be a great loss to Armenia, I think. Anyway, closing down any media outlet ro preventing them from functioning is not justifiable regardless of why they were initially set up.

If they were to pump out false information and so on, there are always the courts and so far you don’t appear to have any concrete cases in this regard on RFE/RL in Armenia. It’s as simple as that.

Anyway, that’s my take on the matter.

RFE was created to help the CIA propagandize against the Soviet Union and for the so-called “Free World.” It spun stories, planted stories, and omitted stories right up to its collapse. At which point, in the mid-late nineties, after Yeltsin–bombed–the Russian parliament and the country’s economy was hemorrhaging under his “reforms” (read, selling the country’s vital assets to mafia bosses), RFE was right there broadcasting about what a fantastic guy that drunken country bumpkin was and how the country was on the “right path.”

They said it with a straight face, too, just like you. As a journalist, you ought to know that saying something with a straight face doesn’t mean a damn thing if you don’t have facts to back you up.

If RFE hasn’t shown its true colors with regard to Armenia, the only reason is that it hasn’t had a reason to, yet. And when all is said and done, the fact remains that RFE is not an organic Armenian institution, and its interests are not the interests of the people of Armenia. That’s just a simple, easily provable, obvious–fact. Please remember that.

Yesterday, this blog was done for a long time, but I assume that if you could enter a comment it should have gotten through. However, if you didn’t enter an anti-spam number which would then have returned you to the original post then it wouldn’t have gotten through at all.

I also want to add, that this bill won’t pass, but the fact it was put in the NA agenda leaves much room for speculation.

Vahe, attempts to limit media freedoms have not been blatant, but rather more sophisticated legislative measures that achieve the same thing.

Complacency is a killer, and after Freedom House’s warning about attempts to control the media in the former Soviet space, I’d say that this is the case here.

Anyway, we shall see what happens to this bill, I suppose. For now, it is quite clear his bill WILL force RFE/RL off national airwaves:

One of the proposed legal amendments would ban the Armenian Public Television and Radio (HHHR) from retransmitting programs of foreign broadcasters. RFE/RL’s Armenian Service primarily relies on the HHHR’s radio frequencies to air its daily news programs across Armenia.

The fees are instead intended for private broadcasters who probably have more limited budgets anyway, especially in the regions, so one guesses the same result will follow.

Let’s see. Maybe the bill will be amended or rejected. I won’t be holding my breath in anticipation, however.