What is Özdil’s position at Sözcü?

Retired Major General Osman Pamukoğlu wrote the following in a social media post, which included a photo of himself standing next to Yılmaz Özdil:

“Our brother Yılmaz Özdil, a myth of journalism and reporting, has taken the helm of the Sözcü Media Group, which consists of Sözcü TV, Sözcü newspaper, and Korkusuz newspaper. With Yılmaz Özdil, the group will be free in thought, free in wisdom, and free in conscience... I wish it to be auspicious.”

In fact, reports that Özdil had become “Media Group President” began alongside news of 14 people being laid off on December 1; Pamukoğlu’s post came after those reports.

For some reason, Özdil waited until December 9 to refute Pamukoğlu and similar reports; he spoke in a sarcastic tone on the program hosted by İpek Özbey:

“If there is any friend of mine who can prove that I am the Media Group President or CEO, we will make that friend the Media Group President. We are facing lies we have never seen in our lives.”

Özdil said on the program that the new restructuring at Sözcü TV was announced by the newspaper, and that Güney Öztürk was the General Manager and İpek Özbey was the Editor-in-Chief. However, in the December 7 issue of Sözcü newspaper, where the change of duty was announced, the following words from İpek Özbey were included:

“I didn't even think twice when Mr. Yılmaz offered me this position. Actually, it wouldn't be accurate to say he offered it. He said, ‘You are the new editor-in-chief of this channel,’ and that was it, clear!”

Serdar Cebe also stated that he was called first by Burak Akbay and then by Yılmaz Özdil, explaining his arrival as the main news anchor by saying, “I told Yılmaz brother, ‘Okay, I’m coming.’”

It is strange; Yılmaz Özdil offered İpek Özbey and Serdar Cebe their new positions, yet he is supposedly just a writer and programmer with no role in management! I could not understand Özdil’s position, and I do not think the readers and viewers of Sözcü can either. It is a situation that requires an explanation...

The favorite university of the AA: Bilal Erdoğan’s university

All universities in Turkey are one thing, and Ibn Haldun University is another. The Anadolu Agency (AA) shows more interest in this university and attributes more news value to it than to any other.

I queried their website; the number of news items published by the AA in the last six months that mention this university has reached 23. The AA not only carefully follows the closing and opening ceremonies of this university’s academic year, but also publishes promotional news from time to time.

The news titled “Ibn Haldun University opens its students to the world with its multilingual education model and scholarships,” published on November 16, was put into service again a day later with the same headline and a video. This news has no current affairs aspect, nor does it have news value. They spoke with the rector, and he is promoting his university. The photo in the news is also not a product of journalism; it is a manipulated image.

Even the opening of the “Darüşşifa Psychotherapy Center” at the university was the subject of three separate news items on the AA with headlines such as “is opening,” “opened,” and “Emine Erdoğan attended the opening.”

There is also cooperation between the AA and this university in different fields. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Karanfiloğlu from the Ibn Haldun University Faculty of Communication gave a presentation at the “Digital Journalism Training” program held at the AA’s Istanbul News Center on December 2.

 Ibn Haldun University has an important feature that distinguishes it from all other universities in Turkey; its founder is TÜRGEV (Foundation for Youth and Education in Turkey). The Deputy Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the university is Bilal Erdoğan. As can be understood from this, this university is a special structure taken under the wings of the political power.

Indeed, government members such as Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Baykar Chairman of the Board Selçuk Bayraktar, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, and Chief Advisor to the President on Foreign Policy and Security Akif Çağatay Kılıç frequently appear at events at this university.

I think the presence of Bilal Erdoğan and the fact that it is under the protection of the AKP government explains the reason for the special interest the AA shows in this university. As for the AA’s responsibility to do objective and fair journalism in the public interest, that is trash, of course...

The football program that milks advertising for all it's worth

We have seen advertising and program content mixed together many times, but they have really gone too far in the “Legendary Football” (Efsane Futbol) program on NOW TV.

In one part of the program, commentator Tümer Metin took three or four bags of chips in front of him, and while he was talking, he was also crunching away on chips. While he was eating the chips, the camera focused on him and the chip bags; Tugay Kerimoğlu, sitting across from him, continued to talk as if nothing had happened.

In another segment, commentator Ersin Düzen stood up and took a can from the small beverage vending machine in the back. He returned to the table, opened it, and started drinking. Naturally, the camera followed him as well.

Then, at one point, Tümer Metin came over to him, and he also took a can. While they were drinking together, Ersin Düzen did an advertisement like, “Sugar-free drink, the sugar comes from its fruit”; Tamer Metin accompanied him by saying, “Niceee.”

In this program, which is broadcast on the NOW Sports account on YouTube as well as on NOW TV, the fact that advertising and evaluations regarding football are so intertwined is an unethical situation. Aside from the discomfort caused by their eating and drinking during the broadcast, football commentary is being used as a tool for food and beverage advertising; viewers are being deceived, and their trust is being attempted to be converted into money.

And they are announcing that they can praise a commercial product in exchange for money. This means they could say other things they don't believe in or know about for a price. In this case, how can one be sure that these football commentaries will not be influenced by other conflicts of interest?

Patterns must be overcome in accident news

 The common point of the news reports titled “Accident like a massacre,” “Full speed to death,” “Tire burst, 7 lives extinguished,” and “Accident like a massacre: 7 dead, 11 injured” was the information that “the passenger bus hit a truck that had stopped in the right lane because its tire had burst from behind.”

In almost all of the first news reports from the scene of the accident near Osmaniye, in addition to this information, there were also accounts from a passenger named Mehmet Avcı about the bus driver driving fast. According to these reports, all the fault lay with the bus driver.

However, later, Osmaniye Governor Erdinç Yılmaz provided the information that “The truck’s tire bursts and it stops in the middle lane. He notifies the Highways Department, but in the meantime, the bus hits it from behind. We do not have information about the speed of the bus at the moment.” The Governor’s Office statement also stated that “the truck with the burst tire stopped in the middle lane, and the bus coming from the same lane hit the stopped truck from behind.”

The Governor’s Office statement indicated that not only the bus driver but also the truck driver who stopped in the middle lane was at fault. The truck driver’s fault was stopping in the middle lane without taking the necessary precautions, contenting himself with turning on his hazard lights, while the bus driver’s fault was carelessness and driving the bus fast despite it being dark. Indeed, both drivers were later arrested.

There is a familiar “news pattern” in traffic accidents; the cause of bus accidents is “speeding” or “drivers falling asleep.” Trucks and vehicles with burst tires are always pulled to the right lane; fast drivers go and hit them.

It is certainly true that some accidents are like this. However, every accident can have its own unique causes; instead of writing news with a familiar pattern based on a passenger’s statement, the reporter should investigate the incident and talk to the authorities.

Clearly, in the news about the accident on the Osmaniye-Gaziantep highway, the agency reporters did not even take the Governor’s Office statement into account, let alone investigate. They didn't even bother to change the phrase “hit the truck stopped in the right lane from behind,” and it just remained like that in the news.

RSF’s index response to Minister Tunç

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç complained about Turkey’s appearance in the “Press Freedom Index” during the budget negotiations in Parliament:

“…World Press Freedom Index. Turkey is in 159th place. Israel is shown ahead of Turkey. Israel has martyred more than 250 journalists in 2 years, what are you talking about? We will not give an opportunity to those who use these indices as a pretext to smear Turkey.”

I asked Erol Önderoğlu, the Turkey Representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which prepares the index, about this assessment by Minister Tunç:

“The RSF Press Freedom Index is shaped according to each country’s score regarding its treatment of media freedom within its own territory. For this reason, Israel is also evaluated in terms of its approach to journalists’ rights in that country.

If the Honorable Minister of Justice gives us an appointment during our annual visits to Ankara as international journalism organizations, we can discuss the dire state of media freedom in Turkey in a more constructive way. The instrumentalization of the judiciary and the systematic targeting of journalistic rights should concern the Honorable Minister as much as it concerns RSF.

We call on the Honorable Minister to protect journalists’ rights in Turkey and not to legitimize violations, just as we call on Israel, which RSF has complained to the International Criminal Court five times since October 2023 for killing journalists in Gaza.”

Indeed, in 2025, Israel is 112th and Turkey is 159th in the index. However, Israel’s journalist murders in Gaza are placed in the “extra-territorial actions” category; it is emphasized that Israeli soldiers have killed approximately 200 journalists in Gaza in 18 months.

Indeed, Yeni Şafak reported on the 2025 RSF report as “Journalist-killer Israel,” and Sözcü as “2025 was the deadliest year for journalists.” It seems Minister Tunç only looked at the ranking section of the Index…

In a single sentence:

• The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office making a statement naming M. Akif Ersoy immediately after his detention was a violation of the presumption of innocence; the broadcasts made as if a verdict had been reached while the accusations were still at the allegation stage were also character assassination.

• The Turkuvaz Group held the “Future of Finance” summit on December 11, and Albayrak Media held the “Turkey Century in Investment and Finance” summit a day later; both summits were sponsored by public banks such as Halkbank and Ziraat Bank, and companies such as Cengiz Holding and Limak.

• Akşam published a synthetic fuel promotion for a fuel company, which the Türkiye newspaper published with the label “This is an advertisement,” as if it were news under the headline “Technological contribution to energy transformation.”

• My article last week on “Fidan’s intimate pose with a journalist” was incomplete; the events at Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s meeting were first reported by a site called Avrupa Postası with the headline “Pose race with Foreign Minister Fidan in Berlin turned into a journalism crisis.”

• Türkiye newspaper writer Nur Tuğba Aktay requested that “media ownership be subjected to MASAK-MIT investigation” and that “national capital be mandatory in media ownership.”

• Sabah, in its news titled “News award to Sabah from TGC,” did not include the other journalists who received the 49th TGC Sedat Simavi Award and the names of their institutions.

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