CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING HELD FOR MASS MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION, IMPARTIAL COVERAGE OF COURT CASES AND OTHER ISSUES

3-day capacity building training of mass media representatives in the field of
human rights protection, court monitoring, impartial coverage of court cases and other
issues, the freedom of speech vs hate speech took place on October 3–5, 2019․
The goal of the training was to build the capacities of mass media representatives in the
field of human rights protection, prevention of stigma and discrimination, usage of the
freedom of speech unless it becomes hate speech, impartial coverage of court cases
and other issues.
On the first day of the training legal expert Anahit Mkrtchyan, attorney, lawyer at New
Generation Humanitarian NGO, presented the topic of Prevention of Stigma and
Discrimination. During the presentation of the topic prohibition of discrimination in
international and domestic documents, grounds, types and manifestations of
discrimination were discussed.
The next day Anahit Mkrtchyan presented the topic of Freedom of Speech vs Hate
Speech. The concepts of freedom of speech and hate speech, the difference between
them, human rights protection mechanisms, prohibition for hate speech were discussed
within the frames of the topic.
On the third day Arman Gharibyan, co-founder of Human Rights Power NGO, lecturer at
Yerevan State University, presented the topic of Coverage of Court Cases, presented
the judicial system of Armenia, method of correct coverage of court cases, the
journalist’s work in court.
All the training sessions included theoretical information and practical activities,
workshops. They were full of active discussions, questions and answers, interactive
games and video screenings.