On Friday, August 17th, 2018, the participants of the Journalism Seminar from Aztag, the Armenian Lebanese daily newspaper, accompanied by their supervisor Arsho Balian, visited His Holiness Aram I in Bikfaya.
The meeting came as a conclusion to the seminar. Before the session, Arsho Balian presented the program to His Holiness and briefed him about the accomplishments the young future journalists have achieved. His Holiness took the floor and opened his lecture by commending the initiative, and underlined the central role that Aztag plays in the Armenian media. His Holiness then talked about objective journalism, the importance of analytical journalism and the core principles of ethical journalism. He claimed that the media is at the center of our social life, therefore, it must not limit itself to news circulation, but also dedicate itself to the mission of promoting social values and traditions, reflecting the worries of its people and presenting realist approaches to various challenges and issues.
Following this, a discussion took place between His Holiness and the young future journalists; the latter paused many questions regarding Journalism in the digital age, the future of the Armenian media, the role of the Armenian youth in the media and in the community, the status of Western Armenian, the Armenian Cause and the relationship between Armenia and the Diaspora.
At the end, Chris Iskenderian, one of the participants of the seminar, presented His Holiness his painting of the historical seat of the Catholicosate in Sis.
