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On May 3, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the students of the faculties of Journalism of the higher educational institutions passing probation in Factor TV visited the parliament, took a tour in the NA Session Hall, met with the deputies of the National Assembly Sisak Gabrielyan, Lilit Minasyan and Hrachya Hakobyan.

The deputies and the future journalists discussed the situation of the press freedom in Armenia, the problems regarding them, the peculiarities of the media sphere, the legislative regulations on media and the journalists’ activities, as well as the activity of the mass media in the war situation and the necessity of preventing the dissemination of fake news.

“We are not going to restrict the media free speech, we try to sow more media literacy in the society, in order the people separate themselves what to read, which is reliable information and which is not,” Hrachya Hakobyan assured the young journalists.

The students had an opportunity to address questions to the deputies about the role of the media, the disinformation, the journalists’ security, the laws on Freedom of Information and on State Secret.

“If there is no demand, there won’t be proposal. The society should refuse them, and the media disseminating fake information will fade away by themselves,” Lilit Minasyan opined.

The deputy Sisak Gabrielyan, who is a journalist by his profession, told the students about his professional career and shared with them about the current situation of the media field.

“They say that the field is polarized, that is normal. Everyone has a platform of their expression, that is also freedom, because the media in the USA being considered leader of democracy is also polarized. In this context fighting is also senseless against the polarized platforms, which spread disinformation.

Within the framework of the project European Media Facility in Armenia – Building sustainable and professional media, Factor TV jointly with the BBC Media Action and Deutsche Welle Akademie carries out three probations periods of the development of the practical skills of the students from the faculties of the Journalism of the higher educational institutions of Armenia. The project has a goal to support the strengthening of the qualified journalism in Armenia and the improvement of the media environment. More than 30 students took part in the probation periods.