August 16, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC - The Armenian National Institute (ANI) announced this week a major expansion of its website on the Armenian Genocide. A new section titled Contemporary Press Coverage consisting of a compilation of over 170 articles from some 50 mainstream media sources discussing the Armenian Genocide has been added. The ANI website is one of the most frequently visited Internet resources on the Armenian Genocide.

The Contemporary Press Section demonstrates the growing public and international awareness of the Armenian Genocide with coverage spanning the globe, but especially from countries with English-language sources including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Israel. The new section contains articles focusing on the historical, political, legal, and moral significance of the Armenian Genocide. For instance readers will find a series of articles tracing the evolution of the U.S. discussion in the media and the ongoing effort for affirmation.

The Contemporary Press Coverage section also conveys the world's onetime awareness of the events and the facts of the Armenians Genocide and how the intervening decades of silence, followed by growing attention to human rights issues, reshaped that discourse on the meaning of the events of 1915.

The compilation provides ten categories of coverage: Book Review, Editorial, Education, Feature Story, Film Review, Memorials, Opinion, Genocide Remembrance Day, Reporting, and Restitution, demonstrating the scope and type of coverage garnered by this important subject.

While WWI dominated the daily news bulletins, given the scale of the atrocities committed in 1915 against the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire resulting in large numbers of victims, international media coverage of these crimes became regular news. A sampling of articles from 1915 is posted on the ANI website. Media attention to the plight of the Armenians diminished with the end of the war and went mostly silent for the better part of the 20th century.

Public attention to the historical significance of the Armenian Genocide resumed in the last quarter of the 20th century. Broader attention to human rights issues prompted by the recurrence of mass killings around the world redefined the Armenian Genocide as a precedent to the series of genocides that punctuated the 20th century. The media discourse on the Armenian Genocide has expanded in the 21st century as reflected in the Contemporary Press Coverage section which documents such media interest from the year 2000 onward. Noteworthy articles by prominent journalists and writers will be added to the site.

Founded in 1997, the Armenian National Institute (ANI) is based in Washington, DC, and is dedicated to the study, research, and affirmation of the Armenian Genocide.