by Elise Nakhnikian
It's happened to most of us: you hear or read a news story about Armenians that contains an infuriating error. Maybe it mentions the Genocide but takes the official Turkish point of view that nothing happened; maybe it reports an inexcusably bloody strike against Azeri villagers but, by failing to mention the years of history that lie behind such incidents, paints the Armenians as bloodthirsty aggressors. Whatever it is, you feel a surge of anger followed by a frustrating sense of helplessness.
Nora Hovsepian, chair of the media relations committee of the Armenian National Committee, Western Region (ANC/WR), wants to turn that helpless rage into effective action. "It seems that in communities where the media gets feedback from the Armenian community, the coverage [of Armenian issues] tends to be much better," she notes. That's why, a year and a half ago, she and her colleagues started the ANC Media Hotline. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the hotline collects calls about stories on Armenians-not just frustrating stories, but also stories so sensitively handled that they deserve praise. The goal, Hovsepian explains, is to keep a comprehensive record of how the North American media cover Armenian issues. That way, when ANC representatives visit a TV producer or newspaper editor to deliver kudos or complaints, they can go armed with a list of stories that the station or paper has done over time, not just a reaction to its latest piece.
The toll-free number, 1-800-368-4ANC, is good anywhere in the United States or Canada. Callers hear a recorded message that lets them choose whether to hear instructions in English or Armenian, and messages may be left in either language. ANC members check for messages "several times a day," says Hovsepian, and act on them in two ways. First, they note such details as where and when the story ran, what it was about, and what point of view it espoused so the story can be entered in the ANC's computerized file on media coverage. Second, an ANC member calls several hotline volunteers, each of whom calls several others, until about 50 people are mobilized to call the TV or radio station, newspaper, or magazine that ran the story and register their complaints-or their appreciation.
The action doesn't always stop there. During the hottest fighting last spring in Karabagh, the hotline was flooded with complaints that CNN's coverage was one-sided , slanted in favor of the Azeris. The usual calls and an attempt by ANC members to meet with CNN executives got no response, so the ANC organized a demonstration in front of CNN's L.A. bureau on March 16. When about 1,000 angry people showed up, ANC leaders were able to get CNN programmers to hear them out. "It all culminated in an interview on CNN with Mourad Topalian, the chairman of the ANC of America; the Turkish ambassador to the UN; and Shereen Hunter from the Center for Strategic and International Studies," Hovsepian says.
The hotline precipitated a much quicker victory when Peter Jennings "made a factual error about Karabagh on ABC's Nightly News," Hovsepian adds. "He said the Armenians first went to Nagorno-Karabagh in the late 1800s and early 1900s, looking for jobs, when actually they're an indigenous population. An East Coast caller alerted us to the mistake and we got on the phone to ABC to tell them about it. When it aired here [on the West Coast], three hours later, Peter Jennings apologized on the air and corrected his mistake."
Hovsepian says the stories she monitors have always been "generally positive." The biggest change she has noticed in recent years is that there are so many more of them. "Before, Armenia would be in the news only around the time of April 24. Just being mentioned was a big deal for us. Now, monitoring the media is a daily task." But while the number of stories is going up, calls to the hotline are, she hates to admit, "kind of dwindling. Since Armenia and Armenians have been so much in the news, I think people assume we're reading and hearing everything. So what's the point of calling. But we don't; we can't. So if you're sitting home at midnight watching TV and something comes on that's relevant, give us a call."
