Azatutyun.am

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is an international news service funded by the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), a US government agency that coordinates broadcasting in approximately 50 languages across multiple continents. RFE/RL broadcasts in 23 countries in 25 languages, including Armenian.

RFE/RL was established during the early Cold War era of the 1950s with the core mission of providing objective news to countries where media outlets operated under state control and faced significant restrictions. The Armenian Service began broadcasting in 1953 as part of this effort to deliver uncensored information to audiences in closed media environments.

Heghine Buniatyan has served as Director of the RFE/RL Armenian Service since 2021. Prior to this role, she worked at Azatutyun as Senior Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Yerevan bureau, as a broadcaster, and as director of the Maxliberty Youth Program.

Before joining RFE/RL in 2004, Buniatyan worked as a correspondent and anchor for Armenian Public Television's midnight news broadcast and as a freelance contributor to Internews, providing weekly radio and television reports. She holds degrees in journalism from both Yerevan State University and Moscow State University, and has completed journalism and leadership training courses in Armenia and internationally. In 2004, she received first prize in the OSCE media awards in the Best Radio Journalist category for her coverage of environmental issues.