Nagorno-Karabakh and the Media – a Panel Discussion

Press Release, Toronto, 17 September 2020

Canada’s Move Network presents Nagorno-Karabakh and the Media panel discussion in two parts. Taped on Sunday September 6^th, the panel comprised of Jirair Tutunjian of Toronto, David Davidian of Yerevan, and David Boyajian of Boston with moderator Kevork Tanielian of Toronto.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has, for decades, been misrepresented by the mainstream media which has acted as a propaganda machine for governments and special interest groups. The panel focuses on the August 14th BBC HardTalk interview with Nikol Pashinyan as springboard to discuss media representation of Armenian issues, the historic background of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, geopolitics, journalistic standards and bias in the media.

The July fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia resulted in major Azerbaijani losses. As a result, the pro-Azeri propaganda intensified with an endless flow of “news reports” and op-eds poured out of the Azerbaijani propaganda machine.

For a number of years, our panelists–independent writers, journalists and activists–have countered the pro-Azeri accusations and twisted narratives through op-eds and written comments in the letters’ sections of the pro-Azeri media. Canada’s Move has reached out to them to shed light on the efforts of the biased media and to set the record straight.

Topics discussed:

• Territorial rights of states vs. the right to self-determination
• The illegal handing of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Nakhichevan by Stalin to Azerbaijan
• Anti-Armenian propaganda
• Geopolitics
• Threat of genocide
• Journalistic standards and media bias

Viewers and listeners are encouraged to counter bias and misinformation by writing to media sources and correcting the media slanted version.

For questions on how to participate in the debate, contact [email protected]