In our digital age, data has become a valuable resource — and this applies to journalists, too. “Data is the basis of our work,” says Sevak Mamyan, the editor-in-chief of Infocom. Infocom is an independent Armenian online news outlet supported by the Prague Civil Society Centre.
Infocom was started during the turbulent days of the Armenian Velvet Revolution in 2018, and was the first Armenian news channel on Telegram. Offering much-needed quick and reliable information, it gathered an audience of more than 10,000 people within days. “This level of trust left us with no choice but to continue our work and put it on a more institutional basis,” the editor-in-chief explains.
In the following years, the outlet experimented with various formats and topics, covering areas often overlooked by mainstream media, such as social inequalities, regional politics, and education in Armenia. Sevak explains that the outlet’s mission has always been to empower the Armenian public to make informed decisions.
The team regularly travels to different regions to cover local issues and also organises public discussions focused on topics such as media literacy.
In the recent past, the outlet has shifted to focus on data from public registries — and uses this as its key asset. They have exposed widespread non-filing of asset declarations by public officials across Armenia, as well as several high-profile cases of illicit donations and corruption. This has led to fines and prompted the state’s anti-corruption mechanisms to revise their methodology.
“We even got a phone call from the Corruption Prevention Commission asking us how we managed to get all this information,” laughs Sevak.
As he points out, Infocom believes in “data activism”. That is why the team regularly creates open databases based on their investigations, which are mainly focused on public contracts, procurement, and tax evasion. Researchers, public institutions, and other media can use these databases for their work.
In 2022, with the support of the Prague Civil Society Centre, Infocom created a separate department of video production called Infocom Production. This production department is an attempt to monetize their services and generate income, which has helped sustain the team on multiple occasions when public funding was either delayed or unavailable.
Their YouTube channel has over 13 thousand subscribers and has amassed a total of over 2 million views. A recently launched podcast show called CTRL Z became especially popular and quickly gained tens of thousands of views.
Moderated by two hosts in their early twenties, this podcast specifically targets Armenia’s Gen Z population and offers interviews with famous personalities from the country’s political and journalistic landscape. Despite statistical data indicating that most of Armenia’s youth is not interested in politics, CTRL Z has proven that political content can be created in a fun and engaging way.
Currently, Infocom is getting ready to cover the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026. Political analysts and observers describe these elections as crucial for the future of the country and its geopolitical orientation.
“We are creating an interactive voting map, combining data analysis with live reporting from the polling stations. We have already tested ourselves during the municipal elections in Gyumri to see which things work and which do not and get ourselves fully ready for the legislatives,” Sevak concludes.