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The Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA) on Friday issued a statement denouncing the My Step Foundation’s inappropriate response to Panorama.am’s request for information on the expenses of Anna Hakobyan’s trip to Italy. The full statement is provided below.

"This government, headed by a former journalistic family, seems to have known and understood the functional mission of the media sphere well enough, but driven by their obsession with keeping the sources of their showy life top secret from the public, they have lost touch with reality and crossed all permissible red lines.

Thus, in response to a written inquiry sent by Panorama.am, first to the RA government, and then to the “My Step” Foundation headed by Anna Hakobyan, by which the media outlet simply tried to find out from the authorities how much money was spent on Anna Hakobyan’s visit to Italy, asking them to provide a breakdown of expenses, including the amount paid for the return plane tickets, the amount of hotel accommodation, the amount of museum tickets, from what sources the expenses were incurred, how much money was provided from the state budget, and what significant, tangible results did Nikol Pashinyan’s wife’s visit to Italy provide for Armenia, the media outlet received a response that, to put it mildly, is not appropriate for an organization associated with the name of the head of state’s wife.

"In response to your inquiry, we suggest participating in the series of "Communication Skills" courses and professional training courses launched within the framework of the "Education is Fashionable" initiative of the "My Step" Charitable Foundation, which will allow you to acquire new knowledge and distinguish which structure and to whom what question can be addressed, and in which cases you can refer to the RA Law "On Freedom of Information" when formulating a request," this new quality of cynicism is, in fact, considered normal for the authorities that have declared themselves the "bastion of democracy."

The media outlet has the right and obligation to provide the public with accurate information, and it is with this in mind that it has turned to the competent authorities, wanting to present accurate figures to its readers, but Anna Hakobyan perhaps does not want the public to know the reality.

We have no doubt that the author of the content of the response provided by the "My Step" Foundation is Anna Hakobyan herself, who tried to teach the journalist lessons in media literacy, avoiding presenting a report on the millions spent.

It is noteworthy that a responsible media outlet is being given media literacy lessons by someone whose family website does not shine with media literacy, whose assistant is the voice of Perfect.TV, Stella Sarukhanyan, which actually spreads media garbage, , and the name of her husband's deputy chief of staff, Taron Chakhoyan, is associated with Medianews.am, a website that spreads disinformation and often the most vile articles that have no organic connection to journalism.

But in the Civil Contract party, it is perhaps mandatory to imitate the Pashinyan couple's way of relating to the media. There is no other way to explain the latest intemperate words addressed to the media by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan, who does not want to face reality, uses open sources, and has a tendency to sue media outlets that publish about his alleged corruption deals. This was during a debate with Hayk Marutyan on transportation tariffs.

In a debate with former mayor Hayk Marutyan on Factor TV, Avinyan, responding to Marutyan's accusations against him and the cited article by CivilNet and OCCRP, said that there is already a lawsuit against CivilNet, and urged his father to file a similar lawsuit as well.

During the debate, Avinyan stated that "the media has become a big garbage dump," then in response to the host's clarifying question, he noted "some media," referring first to the publication by Civilnet, in connection with which, of course, he sued the media outlet, while calling the article a lie, Avinyan did not present any refuting arguments.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly condemns the unbridled behavior of the ruling political force and its affiliates towards the media.

Even the slightest attempt to target the press is reprehensible. Responsible media outlets know their job well and do everything they can to provide their readers with truthful and accurate information, unlike the various types of truly news garbage thrown into the field by websites and YouTube channels owned by Nikol Pashinyan's associates.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia will present this situation, which is yet another manifestation of the government's unbridled behavior, against freedom of speech, and against the media, to international partner organizations.

Tigran Avinyan must publicly apologize for the statement made to the media that lacks any reasonable explanation."