TV Debates on Parliamentary Elections

On the eve of the parliamentary elections in Armenia, Internews and the National Democratic Institute, supported by USAID, organized television debates between some of the candidates. 4 of them were held at “Shant” TV, a Yerevan-based TV company, and one – at “Sosi” TV in Kapan.

The debate in Kapan was of special importance since all the production process was prepared by Internews Armenia starting from the very first step to the end. It took just a week to produce 2 public service announcements, a number of vox pops, to write the scripts, to prepare complete graphic packages and even elements of studio design. Once at the “Sosi” station, the Internews staff helped to construct the studio set.

It was the first political debate at the “Sosi” station, hosting 4 of the 5 parliamentary candidates of that district (one candidate didn’t turn up.) As the anchor and facilitator of the show Armen Sargsyan stated, “the debate was of great importance to the audience since it allowed equal opportunities for all the candidates to express their ideas, informing and involving voters in the political process.”