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Innovative Website Creates Online Election Center for Armenia

Newspaper supplement in Armenian

Newspaper supplement in English

It may not be a shock to see headlines like “Is Your Vote Secret,” “Campaign Turns Nasty,” “It’s the Economy, Stupid,” and “Opposition Coalition Fails to Materialize” in the weeks before an election in developed democracies. But in Armenia, where the media is heavily censored by the government, such straight talk is unusual. You will find these headlines and others on IREX’s new open-source website, www.amnewsservice.org, specially designed by and for Armenian journalists. In essence, it is a one-stop shop for reporters who have previously thirsted for quality elections articles, photos, and coverage guidelines.

The elections have been a focal point of IREX’s Core Media Support Program for Armenia (CMSPA) recent activities. Funded by USAID, CMSPA offers dynamic and varied programs designed to foster self-sustainability in the Armenian media sector.  Election-specific projects included a national citizens’ survey spearheaded by CMSPA’s research team in December 2007, designed to identify issues voters found most important. The results were then used by Armenian reporters and organizations to design more relevant elections coverage. Western media consultants and trainers partnered with local journalists to produce a series of in-depth, issue-based articles. One IREX advisor and long-time Armenia trainer, Leah Kohlenberg, impressed with the progress, observed that “reporters have expressed surprise at what they can write.”

Because content had already been created over several months of collaboration between Armenian reporters and IREX trainers and staff, IREX was able to launch the site very quickly with a rich stock of information. Within two short weeks  the website was attracting over 7,000 hits per day, offering Armenian and international journalists access to elections resource material (available in Armenian, Russian, and English), including articles, info-graphics, and news photos. “This information has been very valuable and helpful for us,” says Lena Hovsepyan, a veteran reporter who wrote Do Armenians Lean East or West in Foreign Policy with the help of trainer Stan Matthews. She also used website materials to help produce election guides as part of a grant from another USAID-funded agency. 

Based on this content, IREX was able to provide two physical election products for newspapers: a four-page voter’s guide that was part of a newspaper’s regular edition and an eight-page election supplement that was designed by IREX and either inserted into newspapers or hand delivered. Both these products contained election articles and info-graphics from the open-source site, a two-page pullout chart comparing the candidates’ platforms, NGO voter information such as the ABA-CEELI voter hotline, and vital information on voter’s rights and obligations. The back page was produced independently by IREX client newspaper Shrjapat Weekly in Gyumri, using instructions found on the open-source site.

The future of the website looks bright. IREX and the weekly news website ArmeniaNow will work together to capitalize on the site’s election momentum and turn it into a self-sustainable, profit-making tool. Future site visitors will find it a source of information not only for those wishing to learn about Armenia, but also for journalists looking to improve their skills and exchange best practices with their colleagues around the world. “We’ll be even more prepared to make a difference in the next election,” contends ArmeniaNow editor John Hughes.

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