The Courses for Diaspora Armenian Journalists, which are part of the 2015 “Diaspora” Summer School Program of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, were launched just recently, but are already proving to be effective. The participants are quite active during the lectures as they ask questions and make observations, trying to share the knowledge that they have gained. The journalists are from two major schools of journalism (Western and Eastern), but as TV journalist Lilya Avagyan from the USA mentioned, that doesn’t bother them as they share their views and exchange their experiences. Host/journalist Lilya is based in Los Angeles, but always tries to maintain ties with Armenia.

Lilya is visiting Armenia for the third time and hopes this visit will be as effective and impressive as the previous ones. “My first visit was during the Armenia-Diaspora Conference. It seemed to be the major event of the year not only because it had brought together representatives of the major sectors of the Armenian Diaspora, but also because it gave us a clear picture of how we needed to provide coverage of the events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. My second visit was on April 24^th. I witnessed the historic event, and I must say that everything was well organized. This visit also helped us provide wide coverage of the event, and we disseminated that tremendous amount of information around the world,” Lilya mentioned.

This time she’s in the homeland to improve her professional qualities, gain more knowledge and to exchange experiences. Lilya knows the difficulties that Diaspora Armenian journalists face. “I don’t want to sound rude, but journalists working for Armenian language presses have a language complexity. That’s self-explanatory because no matter how professional we journalists are and how much we know everything about our profession, we mustn’t forget that we learn everything about our profession in English, and it’s truly hard to start working for an Armenian media outlet after all that,” says the journalist, who has been working in television since the age of five. Lilya also didn’t forget to mention that in spite of the difficulties, there are still pioneers like that. Witnessing all this, Lilya Avagyan attaches importance to such programs because they provide journalists with knowledge about not only journalism, but also Armenian history and culture that any Armenian journalists is obliged to know in a time of anti-Armenian propaganda, especially since that propaganda is spread across the world.

Touching upon the new style of Armenian journalists abroad, Lilya shared her approach that might be a wonderful solution to the issue. “In terms of style, we need to take into consideration what we’re referring to. Are we referring to TV journalism, or print media? I believe media representatives are more consistent with traditions and more conservative when it comes to style. The elders are stricter, but the youth need to look at the foundations that the elders laid. It is that foundation that helps us be innovative and try to convey new air. In the case of television, that is, new media, the rules and principles are not solid. There are many new approaches. No matter how many discrepancies there may be, I must say that the precipice between the elders and the new generation isn’t as wide as we think it is. By preserving the rich traditions and adding our new views, we try to keep up with the pace,” says Lilya.

Talking about consumers’ demands, the journalist noted that people today want short and simple news because in-depth and intricate articles make readers or TV viewers rely on their own analyses, and they don’t have time for that. “I once said that what modern journalism lacks is exactly journalism, meaning people don’t want classic journalism. Everything has sort of turned into student-teacher relations where the teacher wants to teach the student as simply as possible so that he or she masters it at ease. However, I also know one thing, and that is that not everything needs to be adapted to the audience’s demands. Journalists also need to have their principles and try to find a way to present the news effectively,” Lilya adds.

She’ll also try to take with her some key information since she is very excited about the courses that she believes are better than she expected. However, Lilya says she would like to spend more time. “To master all that is required in ten days is a heroic act for the organizers and the participants because there is a tremendous amount of information,” Lilya Avagyan said, adding that the courses are unique in their kind.

Besides journalism, the Armenian American journalist is also an active member of the Armenian National Committee. She has been involved in organizing events dedicated to April 24^th and has carried out several charity programs with the ANC and individually. “I’ve also worked for organization adjunct to “City of Glendale” that was involved in helping develop the central district of Glendale. I was the public relations correspondent,” Lilya Avagyan says.

Although Lilya has achieved great success in the United States of America, she wants to return and continue her studies to obtain her PhD from the Faculty of Journalism of Yerevan State University. “I don’t want to get into detail, but I will be studying U.S.-Armenia relations from the social, political, cultural and other perspectives for my thesis, and to do that, I will have to be in Armenia and conduct research,” Lilya mentions.

Studying in Yerevan has also been her dream that she will try to turn into a reality this year. Let’s wish her success in the homeland and hope we’ll congratulate her on getting accepted to Yerevan State University in September.

Amalya Karapetyan

4^th year student of the Faculty of Journalism of Yerevan State University