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Media Advocate initiative issued a statement on Monday reacting to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's remarks on media outlets and reporters in a Facebook live on Sunday. The statement reads:

“During his yesterday’s Facebook live Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed several political issues, as well as referred to journalists: “How was the media field controlled? The 99 percent of the news outlets and 70 percent of journalists used to receive money from the authorities. Now they don’t receive money, as a result of which they are furious. Even if they receive money from somewhere they do it cautiously, as they are afraid if is revealed and they are disgraced.

Media Advocate Initiative urges the Prime Minister Pashinyan not to label his former colleagues and not to disseminate ungrounded information. We urge Pashinyan to publicize the names of the news outlets and journalists who received money. Thus, Pashinyan will do a favour for domestic journalism, otherwise it turns out that Pashinyan baselessly labels journalists and media community at large. This kind of working style is not in the interests of the right to free speech.

This again acts as a basis of continuation of the policy of dividing news outlets into ours (insiders) and theirs (outsiders), whites and blacks. We urge not to attack the news outlets, not to show a biased, targeted approach to the work of this or that news outlet and journalist."