ReOpen Media Named Among Armenia's Most Influential Outlets

Choosing the most influential online media in any country is difficult, especially when there is a lack of comprehensive audience data. The authors of the "Media Ownership Monitor" program wrote about this. "In Armenia, there are no organizations or tools that measure the audience of online media, and most media outlets do not publish such data. The absence of independent measurements forced the 'Media Ownership Monitor' program team to develop alternative selection criteria. The main criterion became the total number of followers on seven social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X, LinkedIn, Telegram, and TikTok, which was used as an indicator of audience reach and influence.

According to the standard methodology of the 'Media Ownership Monitor,' in each media sector, the 10 media outlets with the largest audience are selected for study. Since there is no clear audience data in Armenia, the number of followers on social networks was used as the main indicator of audience reach and influence. However, considering that the numerical indicators of social media do not always accurately reflect influence, the research team consulted with an advisory board consisting of experts, experienced journalists, and researchers. Political orientation was not a selection criterion. The role of the advisory board was to identify media outlets whose ownership structure, influence in the media market, or editorial positioning were important to include in the study to ensure that the research fully represents the picture of media ownership in Armenia.

The selection was also based on editorial criteria to ensure thematic relevance: the media outlets had to regularly publish news and political content and operate in Armenia. Platforms that focused exclusively on entertainment or narrow topics such as accidents, tourism, or cuisine were not considered. The top ten by audience indicators included iravaban.net and A1+. However, the research team excluded iravaban.net because it mainly focuses on legal analysis and interpretation of legislation, not on socio-political topics, and A1+ has very little original content and mainly symbolic influence.

At the recommendation of the advisory board, seven more media outlets were added to the remaining eight leading media outlets to ensure the representation of both pro-government and opposition voices, as well as one newly created media outlet that the board considered worthy of inclusion. Although the advisory board also proposed including 'Hetq' in the study, the research team rejected this proposal due to ethical considerations and the possibility of a conflict of interest," the summary of the program's results states.

In 2025, 15 online media outlets were selected for the study: "ReOpen Media," Azatutyun.am, News.am, 1in.am, Tert.am, CivilNet, factor.am, 24news.am, Aravot, "Haykakan Zhamanak," Civic.am, Hraparak.am, armlur.am, radar.am, Mediahub.am.