The Armenian Sentinel

3. Vache Mangassarian: A reliable source?

LACK OF MONITORING GIVES HOST OPPORTUNITY TO PURSUE HIS OWN AGENDA AT PUBLIC EXPENSE
By Pedro Zarokian and Arbi Ohanian

In recent months within the Southern California hub of the Armenian community there appears to be one television program that stands out as a constant source of misinformation. This isn't to say that all other Armenian television programs are admirable or provide valuable information and news but this particular one just stands out for its blatancy and its apparent popularity.

Vache Mangassarian, a self declared political pundit in our community, and an Armenian cable television talk show host has combined tabloid style reporting with McCarthy-like fabricated accusations to create a mist around facts and figures that serve his own interests.

With the Armenian-American community in the areas of Glendale, Burbank, Hollywood, Pasadena, and surrounding areas, having reached a critical point in its political maturity, individuals such as Mangassarian are becoming obstacles to the ultimate goals of Armenian-American political representation. The true danger in Mangasarian's program is that he manipulates facts to pursue his own agenda.

His misrepresentation of these facts coupled with his self-serving editing style where he records and edits his questions after an interview has already been conducted makes him a very dangerous and supposedly uncontrollable force within the Armenian-American media.

Some may defend Mangasarian on the grounds that he is protected under the First Amendment and that he has the right to say what he wishes. The First Amendment is a fundamental right but not one that excuses Mangassarian of any responsibility. Mangassarian's program is neither informative in any substantive way nor is it factual. To better illustrate these points it is best to use Mangasarian's own words taken from his own program and weigh them before the facts as illustrated below:

THE MANGASSARIAN FILES: ADVENTURES IN MISINFORMATION & MANIPULATION:

January 19, 2000 – Mangassarian accuses State Sen. Adam Schiff of bribing the Armenian Community with a payment of $500,000 to the Armenian Film Foundation, a “private business.”
FACT: The Armenian Film Foundation is a California registered non-profit organization. The $500,000 was a grant from the State of California which Sen. Schiff helped obtain for the completion of a Genocide Documentary. March 2, 2000 - Mangassarian tells his viewers that Glendale News Press is the newspaper of the Democratic Party. FACT: - The Glendale Newspress is a non-partisan paper that has and continues to endorse candidates from both political parties.

January 21, 2000 – Mangassarian claims that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) better known as the Dashnak party has endorsed Craig Missakian in the primaries.
FACT: The ARF never endorsed any candidates in the 2000 California State Primary. Mangassarian who normally uses his show as a platform to attack ARF policies used this lie to his advantage. In a later show he made the same inaccurate statement about the Hunchak party.

January 19, 2000 - Bob Yousefian (regular guest and former Glendale City Council candidate) told viewers that if they vote for two candidates for the same office all of their votes would be invalidated.
FACT: If you vote for more than one person for an office it only invalidates your vote for THAT office. All other votes will count.

March 6, 2000 - Vache Mangassarian asks Larry Zarian (former Glendale City Councilman and Mayor) why Paul Krekorian (Candidate for 43rd State Assembly) is “hiding” the identity of his mother. He asks why no one has ever seen her [Krekorian’s mother].
REALITY: Krekorian had mailed an introductory piece which outlined his background including his mother JoAnn Krekorian. Krekorian sent out a minimum of two pieces outlining his background with family history and photos.

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