In the past two years, this blog has gained increasing popularity. In total, over 159,000 visitors have been recorded since 12 October 2005, and at times of significant events, readership matches that of the mainstream online media in Armenia. For example, during the recent Pan-Armenian Games, as well as the 12 May parliamentary election, the number of visitors reading this blog virtually matched the combined number of readers of the Armenian, English, Russian and French sections of Hetq Online which not only has significant foreign donor support, but also a staff.

That’s not to say that blogs can replace the online media in Armenia, but they certainly have the potential to complement them. Free from the agendas placed on publications by donors, blogs are more independent and do not have to work within the restrictions placed upon the media by sponsors. Instead, as with this blog, they are voluntary and that’s how they should be in order to truly represent an alternative perspective on stories. Unlike most of the media here, they can not only represent the views of the blog owner, but also of its readers.

In the case of the recent in-game fight between the Istanbul and Glendale basketball teams, as well as the Cairo-Yerevan fight that followed, those involved or close to the teams were also able to weigh in with their own account of the incidents. By cross-linking and quoting from other blogs as well as existing news reports from a plurality of sources, a more comprehensive picture can also be formed that is rarely found in the Armenian media — online or not. Nevertheless, as with everything in life, there are certain realities and while it would be nice to turn this blog into a commercial endeavor, I am reluctant to do so.

Instead, it is my normal everyday work that allows me to continue this blog while also allowing readers an insight into how stories are produced as well as permitting comments to be made — and discussions initiated — before and after publication. Indeed, the whole process of producing a story or photo story has been made transparent, something that is sorely needed in the media. The process of researching and producing all of the stories below which published in the past year, for example, were posted on this blog before publication.

Armenia’s Strategic Lachin Corridor Confronts A Demographic Crisis
EurasiaNet, 15 September 2006

Lachin: The Emptying Lands
Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), 28 September 2006

Blog Posts: Lachin Article in Karabakh’s Demo Newspaper, Lachin: The Emptying Lands, Demographic Crisis in Lachin, Fires in No Man’s Land, An Interview with Samuel Kocharian, Church Service, Lachin, Kashatagh Region, An Interview with Lyova Tasalian, An Interview with Gagik Kosakian, Lachin Scenes #1, AGAPE Children’s Home, Lachin Kids #1, Lachin Kids #2, Suarassy, Kashatagh Region, Meghvadzor, Kashatagh Region, Detained by KGB — Back from Lachin

Armenia: Yezidi Identity Battle
Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), 2 November 2006

Blog Posts: Yezidis — in German, Yezidi Identity Battle, More Yezidi Interviews, Minority Language Education Problem for Armenia’s Yezidi Community, More Problems for Armenia’s Yezidis, Yezidi Wedding, Armavir Region, Tandzut, Armavir Region, Shamiram, Aragatsotn Region #2, Shamiram, Aragatsotn Region #1, Yezidis in Georgia, Back from Tbilisi, Ferik — Portraits, A Yorkshire Kurd in Ferik, Gone, But Not Forgotten, [and many more]

Blog Category: Yezidis

Armenia: Socialism in One Village
EurasiaNet, 7 November 2006

Blog Post: Waiting for Lenin

Armenia: Arrest of Government Critic on Coup Charges Prompts Concerns
EurasiaNet.org, 14 December 2006.

Blog Category: Zhirayr Sefilyan

Armenia Buries Prime Minister
EurasiaNet, 28 March 2007

Blog Posts: PM’s Death Has Minimal Impact on Parliamentary Election Campaign, L’Arménie enterre son Premier Ministre, Armenia Buries Prime Minister, Hundreds Mourn Armenia’s Markarian, Consultations, Respects & Speculation

Youth Group Pushes For Change
EurasiaNet, 6 April 2007

Blog Posts: Youth Group Pushes for Change, Sksel a — Flash Mob

The Long Road Home
CNEWA One Magazine, May 2007

Blog Posts: The Long Road Home, Return of the Mkhitarist Fathers, Return of the Mkhitarist Fathers

Armenia: Karabakh Talks’ Failure Leads to Tougher Civil Society Stance
EurasiaNet, 9 July 2007

Blog Post: Civil Society Takes Tougher Stance on Karabakh

Armenian Festival Combines Paganism and Nationalism
EurasiaNet, 27 July 2007

Blog Posts: Pagan Festival Combines Nationalism with Water, Vardavar, Garni, Kotayk Region #2, Pagan Armenians Celebrate Vardavar, Vardavar, Garni, Kotayk Region

Pan-Armenian Games Seek Ethnic Unity Amidst Divisions
EurasiaNet, 31 August 2007

Blog Category: Pan-Armenian Games

You can use the various categories or archive sections to right to find the background material to this work as well as other assignments such as recent photo stories on the 12 May parliamentary election which were published on the special EurasiaNet Armenia: Vote 2007 site or the images I took for exhibition and an online presentation on fostering and de-instutionalization in Georgia for the Newport Kutaisi Association. Combined with my online portfolio, this blog has become an extension to my work as well as a valuable resource for the heads of many international news agencies and organizations who access this site on a daily basis.

This includes work undertaken on various organizations operating in Armenia and Georgia through posts on EveryChild, Habitat for Humanity, Tufenkian Foundation, SOS Kinderdorf and UNICEF. Special coverage has also been given to the detention and trial of Yektan Turkyilmaz, the murder of Hrant Dink, the 2007 parliamentary election, roundups of posts from the Armenian blogosphere and rock music in Armenia. Two bloggers that were nurtured on this site now have their own here and here.

Meanwhile, a 2008 Presidential Election Monitor blog has been set up at http://blog.oneworld.am and after the vote next year I plan to move everything other to that address and my own server. Usually, this blog receives a third to a half of the number of readers as the various language editions of Armenia Now and Hetq Online combined, and it would be interesting to expand the general concept into something more professional given that it has already become a main resource for information on Armenia, but am not sure whether this is the best idea or how it might work.

Nevertheless, I am open to suggestions and am ready to discuss the idea with anyone interested. I am also always on the lookout for more assignments and projects to undertake in Armenia, Georgia and the surrounding region so please don’t hesitate to contact me via the email link to the right to discuss this further. The Oneworld Multimedia blog has been a success, receiving more accesses than the main Oneworld site, is in the unique position of being able to offer a variety of mediums to disseminate information from a variety of sources.

It also offers unique materials published internationally, but with additional information and photos posted here that can initiate discussion and debate. Here’s looking forwards to the next two years.