President Sargisian Honors Azg Editor on Milestone Birthday

When Armenia declared its independence, Avedikian moved there and settled in Yerevan with his family.

It is then and there that his pioneering mission in journalism began. He became the founding editor of the daily Azg, which was destined to transform the image and the function of journalism in Armenia.

He was instrumental in changing the dull and dour image of Soviet journalism by introducing Western methods and technology in the fledgling business of newsgathering.

In addition to editing a dynamic daily, which at first hit 40,000 in circulation, Avedikian rallied young and promising journalists around the paper. At that time, Azg became the most powerful and respected daily in Armenia. He was also smart enough to realize that those in the diaspora would want to read about Armenia, therefore he put out online translations of the main stories in English, Russian, Arabic and Turkish.

Many journalists, who later on embraced more ambitious careers as editors and diplomats, took their maiden steps in the editorial offices of Azg.

In addition to his profession as an eminent editor, he also became an educator, which in a way complemented his editorial mission. Indeed, he was invited by the State Pedagogical University to serve as a professor of journalism. Thus, he trained the new generation of journalists who ended up in the editorial offices of other newspapers and online publications, as well as in the TV stations as broadcast journalists.