Hayern Aysor’s correspondent sat down for an interview with founding editor-in-chief of Moscow’s Zham magazine, Doctor of Culturology, Associate Professor of Moscow State Pedagogical University Anna Givargizyan, who participated in the 8^th Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists organized on 20-24 October by the RA Ministry of Diaspora under the title “Armenian Statehood: Axis of Unity”.

Hayern Aysor: Anna, is it easy to issue a magazine in this era of the Internet when more and more websites are being launched? What obstacles do you face?

Anna Givargizyan: When Zham magazine was being founded eight years ago, I visited bookstores in Moscow and purchased dozens of books about how to issue a magazine.

After that, I faced indescribably difficult times. I stumbled, made many mistakes and experienced many disappointments, but at the same time, it was meaningful and interesting.

We didn’t have hands-on experience. We were constantly “knocking on the closed doors” of people boasting about their patriotism on the Internet, “knocking on the closed hearts” of wealthy Armenians, going after the light and discovering an infinite number of new things. The only thing we could console ourselves with was the fact that we knew what we were doing and whom we were doing it for.

And so, on November 30, 2008, I issued the first volume of Zham magazine with the help of my husband, Armenians and foreigners sharing my ideas and my fellow journalists, who continue to support me to this day.

Zham magazine is a 112-page, high-quality, educational and cultural magazine that is issued in Armenian and Russian. The main purpose is to disseminate Armenian values in a foreign environment and provide coverage of social and cultural life in Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. The magazine also serves as a MMC (means of mass communication).

The magazine also has a multilingual website (zham.ru). We also publish books and hold international symposiums, exhibitions, film premieres, concerts, presentations, master classes, lectures and meetings with notable individuals in partnership with the UNESCO. We organized eight symposiums in 2015 alone.

For nearly two years, we also published the Menq youth newspaper. In 2010, we established the Menq Creative Union, which young Russian-speaking Armenians (youth who have been living in Moscow for nearly five years) with the opportunity to learn the Armenian language, as well as study Armenian literature, history and learn about Armenian culture free of charge.

We would do all this while leading a struggle against the insolent and immoral Azerbaijanis, who were incomparably luckier because they were encouraged and supported by their government. As for us Armenians, we didn’t have and don’t have such assistance or a fully established Armenian community in Moscow.

Hayern Aysor Is Zham magazine only available for Armenians?

A. G.: When I was starting the magazine, I really wanted it to be accessible to Russians as well. I had set a goal to present Armenia and Armenian culture to the Russians and other nations and introduce them to the national values and riches of the Armenian nation through this magazine.

There have been many cases when we Armenians are presented as Caucasians and compared with inimical nations on different occasions in Russia, and this was very offensive.

In my magazine, I have also included pages devoted to foreigners who have touched upon Armenia and the issues of the Armenian nation in the course of their activities.

We have our correspondents in different communities of the Armenian Diaspora. Generally speaking, unfortunately, our staff doesn’t have many Armenian members. There are no Armenian technicians at all.

Hayern Aysor: When did you come up with the idea of starting a magazine? What was the motive?

A. G.: I had come up with the idea of having my own magazine since childhood. I could feel it, and I would even dream about it. I would see myself having a magazine in my dreams. I would see myself opening the mailbox and finding numerous letters and magazines, and this would make me happy.

My parents noticed that I was interested in magazines and would purchase all the children’s magazines that were being published in all countries of the former USSR. I have also been a correspondent for the “Pioner Kanch” children’s newspaper.

Hayern Aysor: Did you receive your higher education in Armenia?

A. G.: I received my higher education in the Faculty of Armenian Philology at Yerevan State University. I am a literary critic/journalist. Upon graduation, I continued my studies in the Institute of Arts of Florida and at Moscow State University where I obtained a degree in linguistics (English language). I also pursued my studies to obtain a PhD and defended my theses for candidacy and a doctorate at the same university. I give lectures on art history at Moscow State Pedagogical University.

When I was writing my thesis in Moscow, I touched upon the preservation of spiritual values and tried to understand the difficult situations that Armenians face abroad and what “soul food” they need. I would constantly see this.

For instance, I had many Armenian students who were ashamed of speaking out about their Armenian identity. It was the desire to find the answers to this and other questions that led me to conduct such a study.

Hayern Aysor: In your opinion, what is the level of cooperation between the media outlets of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora after the forums? How do they cooperate?

A. G.: These forums help us become a family, show will, be consolidated and establish new contacts. Indeed, the forum has helped further expand the field of cooperation and has further strengthened not only the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora partnership, but also the partnership within the Armenian Diaspora.

The first time I participated in the Pan-Armenian Forum of Journalists was in 2010 in Stepanakert where I established contacts with editors and journalists from different Armenian communities. I am constantly in touch with those wonderful people and we have carried out many joint programs and projects.

One of them is Editor-in-Chief of Iran’s Arax Weekly Movses Keshishian, with whom I have carried out many programs and projects. In the latest issue of Zham magazine, I released the interview with Movses Keshishian in which he talks about the life and activities of the Armenian community of Iran.

Interview by Gevorg Chichyan