The “Initiative for Media Quality and Resilience” seeks to address the challenges faced by Armenia’s media sector on multiple levels. By shaping and informing legislative reform processes, the project will help foster an enabling environment for independent media, where practitioners can conduct their professional activities without hindrance or politically motivated interference. Furthermore, a comprehensive package of mutually supporting activities will aim to build audience trust by introducing robust mechanisms for media self-regulation that are based on clear ethical principles and transparency. These activities will serve to promote media and information literacy, thereby giving audiences the confidence to navigate an increasingly confusing and overloaded information space.
The project will offer professional media organizations numerous opportunities for capacity-building that will enable journalists and managers to acquire new skills through formal training, then apply these skills to practice under the mentorship of subject-matter experts, develop and distribute content that serves the public interest and challenges discriminatory norms or gender stereotypes. This cycle will empower media outlets to operate in an independent, professional and sustainable manner. It will also help them to operate safely by introducing measures to enhance the security of their digital platforms and ensure the physical well-being of their staff.

The overall objective of the action is: Armenian civil society organisations have the capacity and resilience to act as trusted, independent and effective actors.

Progress towards this overarching goal will be realized through a combination of consultancy, training, grant-funded content production, advocacy and public engagement. These interconnected efforts will strengthen resilience to external threats such as political and economic pressures; cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns; and the untrammeled rise of social media as a primary source of news and entertainment. They will make independent media less vulnerable to politically motivated takeovers and more responsive to audience needs and priorities which, in turn, will consolidate their market position and build public trust in their programming.
Below are the specific objectives of the project:

2. Objective 1: To empower media organizations to manage and perform professionally, independently and sustainably.

Objective 2: To support media organisations and actors to develop more reader-relevant, analytical, reliable and responsible content

Objective 3: To ensure participation of civil society, media and public authorities in the progress and reformation of the media ecosystem

1. Media organisations are able to operate as professional, independent and sustainable businesses
2. Media organisations and actors develop more reader-relevant, analytical, reliable and responsible content
3. Civil society, media and public authorities participate in collective efforts to reform the media ecosystem