At the time of publication, more than three dozen publishers have added their names to the joint statement declaring the boycott.

In a separate statement, a small number of nonpartisan mainstream media, including Azatutyun, RFE/RL’s Armenia Service and CivilNet, condemned the format of the press conference and recurring instances of submitted questions being edited or twisted.

“We consider this form of interaction with the media by the country’s leader to be discriminatory, ineffective and at odds with fundamental principles of democracy, transparency and accountability,” the statement said.

Hakob Karapetyan, editor-in-chief of the Armenian fact-checking platform Fact Investigation Platform and one of the initiators of the statement, told OC Media that one of the reasons the statement was launched was the “leak”. information by the Armenian time and fears that questions sent to the prime minister risk being re-edited and twisted.

“The prime minister considers the democratization of the country and the transparency of his government as one of the main achievements,” Karapetyan told OC Media. “We wanted to send them a warning or a signal that such actions do not support the democratization of the country.”

Pashinyan has held press conferences online since 2021, citing COVID-19 pandemics as the reason for the new format instead of pre-covid and pre-war more often and open communication with local media.