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The Role of News Media and Social Networks in Shaping Armenian Society: What Must Change and What We Must Strive For

The Role of News Media and Social Networks in Shaping Armenian Society: What Must Change and What We Must Strive For By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder & CEO of Octopus Media Group

Our blog is the home of deep analysis and timely commentary. Here, our editors, researchers, and guest experts explore Armenia’s most pressing social and political issues — beyond the daily headlines.

Topics include:

Electoral trends and predictions

Opinion breakdowns by region or demographic

Case studies of information warfare in media

Behind-the-scenes of public polling projects

Stories from the field: researchers' insights

Data storytelling using visuals and charts

Whether you’re a policymaker, journalist, academic, or citizen — this is where critical thinking meets real data.

Armenia After the Election: Will the Government Open the Door to Business — or Build New Barriers?

Armenia is standing at a delicate point. On one side, the country is trying to open new doors — to Europe, the United States, international financial institutions, new markets and capital. On the other, it remains economically vulnerable: a small market, closed borders, difficult logistics, energy dependence and constant geopolitical risk. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

21.06.2026

The Election Is Over. Nothing Has Changed — and Perhaps That Is the Best Armenia Could Get

At first glance, nothing dramatic happened. In reality, something very important happened: society once again chose not love, but the logic of lesser risk. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

16.06.2026

The Last Day of the Campaign: Armenia Faces a Choice Where Mistakes Will Cost the Future

Today marks the final day of Armenia’s election campaign. Tomorrow is the day of silence. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

05.06.2026

Is Russia Armenia’s Friend or Enemy? The Real Question Is Not Pashinyan — It Is the Price the Country May Pay

If Pashinyan is such a problem for Russia, why does Moscow not simply “stop” him? Because direct intervention would be costly. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

28.05.2026

Armenia’s Election Campaign Has Begun: The Country Is Not Choosing Parties — It Is Choosing Between Fears, Hopes, and the Future

Armenia’s parliamentary election campaign has effectively begun. Formally, this is a race for the National Assembly scheduled for June 7, 2026. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

13.05.2026

Pashinyan, Samvel Karapetyan, and Kocharyan’s Shadow: Who Is Really Fighting Whom Before the Election?

Armenia is no longer witnessing a simple pre-election contest. What is unfolding is a struggle over who will successfully claim the role of Nikol Pashinyan’s main challenger — and who can convert public exhaustion into political force. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

09.04.2026

Yerevan as a Symptom: How the City Became a Field of Potholes, Construction, and Distrusted Governance

Yerevan increasingly looks less like a capital city and more like a place being simultaneously dug up, sold off, reshaped, and rationalized. Officials speak in the language of programs, tenders, square meters, and reform. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

29.03.2026

Armenia’s 2026 Parliamentary Election: a fight not only for power, but for the meaning of the state

Armenia is approaching the 7 June 2026 parliamentary election not as a country merely choosing between parties, but as a country trying to decide what kind of state it wants to be after the 2020 war, the displacement of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh

21.03.2026

The War in Iran and Armenia: Too Close to Remain Just an Observer

That is why the central conclusion for Armenia today is harsh but honest: verbal neutrality is no longer enough; neutrality must be backed by preparedness. Preparedness for logistics shocks, migration pressure, rising prices, information warfare, and for the reality that even if this is not Armenia’s war, the consequences for Armenia may still be profound. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

12.03.2026

Youth as an Alibi: Why Arpine Sargsyan’s Appointment Became a Symbol of Armenia’s Security Crisis

Arpine Sargsyan may prove an effective manager. She may improve indicators. She may accelerate reform. But until the central question is answered, it will all look like a facade: By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

23.02.2026

Vance in Yerevan: Did the U.S. “Enter” Armenia — or Did Armenia Enter a New Game?

Armenia has not seen many visits of this level that simultaneously function as diplomacy, a security signal, and domestic political material. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance’s trip to Yerevan in February 2026 ...By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

12.02.2026

When the State Turns Against the Church — and Society Is Left Alone

I write this not as a theologian and not as a representative of the Church. I write as a journalist, a citizen, and someone who understands that any blow to the Church in Armenia is inevitably a blow to national identity, regardless of the legal language used to justify it. By Lida Nalbandyan, Founder and CEO of Octopus Media Group

03.02.2026