Background of the Issue: On November 2, 2011 the founder of “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” daily, “Trespassers W.” LLC, addressed to MEO for receiving an expert judgment on the article “To Know Pharaoh”, published in “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” on April 9, 2011. The piece was contested at court and contained critical expressions by the artist Sergey Gasparian about the Director of the Armenia National Art Gallery Paravon (Pharaoh) Mirzoyan. Paravon Mirzoyan filed the court of general jurisdiction with a suit on protection of honor and dignity versus the founder of “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” daily and Sergey Gasparian, demanding to refute the information discrediting his reputation, compensate the moral damage of 3 million AMD (about $ 7,900), as well as to pay off the court expenses of 360,000 AMD (about $ 950).
On December 25, 2011 the Media Ethics Observatory rendered the expert judgment on article “To Know Pharaoh”. Even though pointing out some shortcomings of the piece, the MEO particularly noted that a number of expressions contested by the Art Gallery Director are not facts but value judgments. Hence, their validity is unprovable. MEO concluded that the conflict between Paravon Mirzoyan and the daily is a matter of journalistic ethics and may be settled through publication in “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” of the refutation or reply text provided by Paravon Mirzoyan, or publication of the MEO judgment in the daily (Դիտորդ մարմնի 2011թ. դեկտեմբերի 25-ի փորձագիտական եզրակացությունը).