Edik Baghdasaryan

I am a journalist, the Editor of Hetq and one of the co-founders of the Investigative Journalists NGO.

My professional career started in 1988 at the Television and Radio State Committee of Armenia. I hosted co-authored political and analytical programs on the state television – 2+1, Day 7 – which were later closed for political reasons.

I cooperated with various newspapers, and then served in the Armenian Armed Forces. In 2000, together with a group of journalists, I founded the Investigative Journalists NGO. Our goal was to develop investigative journalism in Armenia. In 2001, we founded the Hetq online newspaper, where our investigations were regularly published.

Later, we were recognized for our investigative materials related to various spheres – justice, trafficking, nature protection, corruption of officials, state procurement, etc. Together with reporters from our team, I have participated in several international investigative projects, such as Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, and the Troika Laundromat.

I’ve won several local and international awards and would like to mention two of them: The Global Shining Light Award at the 2008 Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Lillehammer, Norway, and the Press Freedom in Eastern Europe – 2010 Award by the Bucerius Foundation.

There are principles that I never betray. I like working with documents and numbers. It’s probably because I graduated from a school specializing in mathematics. Anyway, I have always wanted to find out the truth, bring justice, and restore the violated rights of the people.

In 2001-2017, I taught the course of Investigative Journalism at the Faculty of Journalism at Yerevan State University. For students and those interested in investigative journalism, I authored the book “Investigative Journalism: Armenian Experience”, which is still used as a textbook at the faculties of journalism.

I like working on materials with my students, and now at Hetq Media Factory I have that opportunity again.

I am a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.