RADIO LIBERTY RE-AIRING IN ARMENIA'S REGIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000221 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NSC FOR MARIA GERMANO E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ASEC KDEM AM SUBJECT: RADIO LIBERTY RE-AIRING IN ARMENIA'S REGIONS YEREVAN 00000221 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Joseph Pennington, reasons 1.4 (b/d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In spite of stringent media restrictions imposed by the March 1 state of emergency, Radio Liberty (RL) began re-airing March 7 in Armenia's regions where the emergency decree does not apply. According to the local broadcaster Radio Hay (Armenian Radio),the station began re-airing RL broadcasts in the face of attempts by authorities to keep them off the air. Radio Hay informed both the presidential spokesman and head of Armenia's National Television and Radio Commission that it would violate its contractual obligations to RL if it ceased its broadcasts, and needed an official, written request from authorities before it could take such a step. No such request was furnished. END SUMMARY. -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Since August 2007, Radio Hay has broadcast RFE/RL on a contractual basis. (NOTE: The mission has also had a relationship with Radio Hay since 2007, as a USAID grantee of election-related assistance designed to increase public awareness of Armenia's 2007 parliamentary elections. END NOTE.) After President Kocharian declared a state of emergency on March 1, Radio Hay decided to stop broadcasting RFE/RL programs due to the lack of clarity on possible consequences for media broadcasting news not sanctioned by the GOAM. ¶3. (SBU) Radio Hay took this approach until March 7 when it finally decided to begin re-broadcasting RFE/RL in the regions through its satellite network. (NOTE: The satellite signal comes from outside of ARMENIA to their regional broadcast transmitters. END NOTE.) The first RFE/RL program was broadcast on the evening of March 7. In the interim, Radio Hay asked RFE/RL to be vigilant in its editorial line, apparently taken back by a March 2 recording sent by RFE/RL which Radio Hay found to be overtly pro-opposition. Radio Hay subsequently asked, but was rebuffed, if it could delay retransmission of RFE/RL broadcasts in order to have time to review content. -------------- AUTHORITIES ASK RADIO HAY TO STOP -------------- ¶4. (C) On March 8, Garegin Amalyan, the director of Armenia's National Television and Radio Commission (NTRC),called Radio Hay's director and owner for a meeting, ostensibly to discuss their station's licensing paperwork. Amalyan broached NTRC's general policy on media freedoms before castigating the initiative of Radio Hay to continue broadcasting RFE/RL programs in defiance of the state of emergency. (NOTE: The state of emergency officially does not ban in the regions news which is not sanctioned by the GOAM. END NOTE.) ¶5. (C) Radio Hay responded by requesting Amalyan provide a written notice of the ban, so that they could provide it to RFE/RL management. Radio Hay's director explained that otherwise the station would be in violation of its contractual obligations and be subject to financial penalties. Amalyan replied that he was not in a position to do so, and would have to refer the issue to Viktor Soghomonian, Press Secretary to President Kocharian. ¶6. (C) During a lengthy phone conversation with Radio Hay management the same day, Soghomonian asked as a matter of professional courtesy that the station not broadcast RFE/RL that evening, and requested a meeting for Monday, March 10. Radio Hay complied with the March 8 request, but in its March 10 meeting informed Soghomonian that absent a written ban on regional broadcasts of RFE/RL material, Radio Hay would resume broadcasting that evening, which it did. Having encountered no further resistance after the airing, Radio Hay added an afternoon broadcast on March 11 as well, and has been airing RFE/RL programming ever since. (NOTE: Radio Hay's regional network covers the entire territory of Armenia, excluding the city of Jermuk in the south and several smaller cities. END NOTE.) ¶7. (U) In a related development on March 11, RFE/RL in Prague announced it had restored broadcasting on shortwave frequencies to ARMENIA to counter the GOAM's ban on YEREVAN 00000221 002.2 OF 002 independent news. According to RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reinstated broadcasting on two shortwave frequencies March 8, a week after its regular broadcasts on FM frequencies were taken off the air by local affiliates in ARMENIA who were complying with President Kocharian's emergency decree. The shortwave broadcasts are aired only one hour a day, in contrast with the previous three hours on local FM frequencies. RFE/RL told the Charge on March 10 that the shortwave broadcasts were reaching an estimated 10 percent of RL's usual audience. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) The good news here is that independent media stood their ground and won at least a temporary victory in the war for control of the airwaves. The bad news is that this so far applies only to the regions, where listenership is arguably not as dedicated as in the capital. That said, we continue to push the authorities to lift all media restrictions, and there are indications a slow thaw might be underway. END COMMENT. PENNINGTON