The drone scammer fooled the media first

“He ruined households with drone ads” and “They collected 5 billion from over three thousand people” headlines explained how thousands of people were deceived thanks to those advertisements.

In reality, people were not deceived into high profit promises solely by those ads. Just think, land was allocated for a drone factory in Yozgat, and Governor M. Ali Özkan and officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony! It seems the city's administrators believed it first, paving the way for the fraud.

In addition to the governor and city officials, the media also made a significant contribution to people falling for that dream. News that Ocakcı Holding would build a drone factory in Yozgat began appearing in local media last July. Reports on Sedat Ocakcı signing a contract with an architectural firm for the factory construction and the groundbreaking ceremony were published on the Sürmeli Haber, Yozgat Haber, and Yozgat Medya websites.

The drone factory business even moved beyond local media and was published in Hürriyet, Türkgün, and Yeni Akit. While Türkgün wrote that the drone factory would soon start production, Adnan Kaya wrote an article in Hürriyet titled “Izmir-Yozgat drone line,” and Yeni Akit announced it as a “Tremendous development.”

Ignoring these and reporting only on Sedat Ocakcı’s luxurious life, the cars he gifted his wife, and the holding company he established with lies is not enough to cover up the media’s mistake. The media should have been suspicious and investigated when this person selling dreams first appeared. Journalism thrives on suspicion.

THE MEDIA’S RESPONSIBILITY IN THE MINE DISASTER

The pro-government media reported on the gold mine disaster in Erzincan with passive headlines such as “This is how the soil swallowed it,” “Hundreds of tons of soil slid,” “The mountain walked,” and “The pile of earth swallowed the workers.” As if the mountain had walked on its own and the soil had flowed for no reason.

Just as they tried to hide the political government’s responsibility, they did not mention that the villagers of İliç and environmentalists had been protesting for years, that lawsuits had been filed, that professional organizations like the TTB (Turkish Medical Association), TBB (Union of Turkish Bar Associations), and TMMOB (Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects) had warned that an environmental disaster could occur, or that opposition MPs had repeatedly brought this mine to the agenda in Parliament.

They forgot that İlhan Cihaner was arrested because he launched an investigation into this mine while he was the Chief Public Prosecutor in Erzincan. Of course, they might also want to erase this event from their memories because of the government’s partnership with FETÖ at that time!

They ignored the detention of Sedat Cezayirlioğlu, who was proven right in his struggle. Then, relying on an expert report, they dumped all the blame on a few field workers. They took another step toward whitewashing the political government and the company.

None of them mentioned that Anagold Mining, which operates the mine, was established through a partnership between the Canadian SSR Mining and the pro-government Çalık Holding. Hürriyet mentioned it in passing five days later. Yet, it was the partnership with Çalık that enabled Anagold to resolve bureaucratic obstacles and continue operating even after a cyanide pipe burst two years ago.

In fact, while critical media had been publishing against the nature massacre in İliç for years, the company successfully used the mainstream media to polish its image. Fikret Çengel’s article in Dünya newspaper, “İliç, which met gold, became the Paris of the East,” was one of the praises directed at the company. “Digital publisher” Adem Metan, who is presented as a “journalist” on news channels, had also published a video a year ago protecting the company’s interests with the title “What happened in the gold mines in Erzincan with all its reality.”

Bloomberg HT’s “Anagold company’s social development projects,” İHA’s “Development training for Erzincan farmers from Anagold Mining,” ANKA’s “Anagold Mining in the earthquake zone with its search and rescue team,” and Ekonomim’s “1 billion dollar investment from Anagold to Turkey” reports are just a few examples of the company’s PR work in the media...

In addition to government support, such publications also contributed to Anagold company’s ability to comfortably continue the massacre in İliç. They were even able to quietly have their 7.2 million dollar tax debt erased.

We have once again seen how valuable free, independent, and critical journalism is.

JOURNALISTS PLAYING BALL WITH THE POLITICIAN

The footage shared by AKP’s Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate Murat Kurum with the note “When the 90 minutes are over, the winner will be Istanbul” was filmed during his visit to Pendikspor.

Murat Kurum takes the ball, turns to the journalists, and says, “Let him throw it to FOX, Sözcü. Come on.” Upon the FOX TV reporter saying, “I’m not good at goalkeeping,” Murat Kurum and the FOX reporter go into the goal; the Sözcü reporter was shooting at the goal. Amidst laughter and jokes, Murat Kurum was also scoring goals against the Pendikspor goalkeeper.

The AKP evaluated this footage as part of Murat Kurum’s election campaign. Sözcü TV also reported it in its main news bulletin as if their reporters had achieved a very successful feat, saying “Sözcü shot and it was a goal.”

However, the journalists’ job there was to watch Kurum’s visit and report what they saw. But by playing ball with Kurum, they ceased to be observing eyes and became the subject of that visit. By appearing cozy with the politician, they broke the contact-distance rule in front of the cameras.

The use of the footage of the journalists playing ball in the AKP’s post is proof that those reporters stepped outside the field of journalism.

JOURNALIST IN JAIL, HOTAR AN AMBASSADOR

A3 Haber Editor-in-Chief Süleyman Gençel was attacked in 2013 after the publication of his “FETÖ stock market” article series in İzmir. Gençel held Prof. Dr. Nükhet Hotar, former AKP Deputy Chair and Rector of Dokuz Eylül University, responsible for the attack.

Because in the article series, he was alleging that Hotar had a connection to the “FETÖ stock market.” But not only was no investigation or lawsuit opened against Hotar, Gençel was tried on charges of insulting Hotar. He received a 2-year-1-month prison sentence in one case and a 1-year-2-month prison sentence in the second case.

Meanwhile, an important development occurred; answering the questions of Gazete Duvar, crime organization leader Serkan Kurtuluş, who is imprisoned in Argentina, said that he attacked Gençel on the instructions of Prof. Dr. Hotar. He said, “Nükhet Hotar personally requested this from me in an office.”

Despite this, Gençel has been in prison since February 2. It is still unclear how long he will serve because his sentence calculation document has not been prepared for 10 days. Hotar, who did not even feel the need to make a statement, was appointed by President Erdoğan as the Special Representative of the Republic of Turkey for the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM); she was also rewarded by being given the title of ambassador.

Journalists from İzmir, who protested Gençel’s imprisonment, also faced a wave of detentions last week. Jinnews reporter Melike Aydın, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reporters Delal Akyüz, Tolga Güney, and Semra Turan, as well as Gazete Duvar reporter Cihan Başakçıoğlu were also detained. They were released two days later with judicial control conditions.

What a coincidence that Cihan Başakçıoğlu was the journalist who conducted the interview with the crime organization leader in Argentina! All the questions asked at the police station and the prosecutor’s office were about his reports...

THE NEWS THAT BRINGS LOVE AND AFFECTION TOGETHER

The headline of the news on Karar’s economy page was in the form of “H….Jack will conquer the hearts of couples.” Since they put the “Economy Service” signature under it, they think they put effort into preparing the news and that the news deserves that signature.

The news started with valuable information such as “The deep-rooted brand of the Turkish footwear sector, H… J…, offers an exclusive gift alternative this Valentine’s Day with its new season models.” Afterwards, praise words like “providing high comfort” that will “conquer the hearts of couples” were competed; the news ended by saying “...the shoes bring love and affection together.”

It is hard to say that there is journalistic labor in this news. It is very clear that they put the bulletin from the company on the page as it is. Still, it is sad that they put the “Economy Service” signature, that they count even such a company advertisement as news, and that they do not see any harm in presenting it to the reader under the guise of news. Advertising has never been this influential over journalism.

In one sentence:

• While Posta published DHA’s news about the decrease in Russians in Antalya with the headline “We offended the Russians,” Korkusuz with “Tourists are also fleeing because of high prices,” and NTV with “They are going to Serbia and Dubai,” Milliyet presented it as if it were positive, saying “The departure of Russians lowered rents.”

• P… Holding took reporters from Akşam, Dünya, Ekonomi, Hürriyet, Sabah, Milliyet, Türkiye, and Yeni Şafak to Budapest to show its construction projects; they paid for this by publishing extensive reports.

• The news published in The Times and Daily Mail about Pakistani Mahmnoor Cheema, who studies in England, was published as if it were an exclusive report by Türkiye newspaper with the headline “Her IQ is higher than Einstein’s” and with the byline of M. Emin Arvas.

• In the article titled “7 surprising foods containing caffeine that are enemies of night sleep” on NTV’s webpage, it was mentioned that there is a “full-fat version” of cola.

• Sabah, as it has for the last five years, is distributing “The Holy Quran and the Quran Path translation” to its readers with coupons before this Ramadan as well.

• The words salary-monthly-wage are confused in the news; civil servants receive a salary, while retirees receive a monthly pension.

• Yeni Şafak writer Mehmet Şeker confused “judicial” (adli) with “ordinary” (adi) in his article about the attack in Küçükçekmece.

• While Posta and Takvim wrote that Serdar Ortaç apologized to Tarkan in the news about his swearing and insults on social media, they ignored his insults toward CHP members.

• Akşam published texts promoting the activities of Beyoğlu and Kocaeli municipalities, Sabah and Yeni Akit for Selçuklu Municipality, Posta for Onikişubat Municipality in K. Maraş, and Akşam, Hürriyet, Türkiye, and Yeni Şafak for Kocaeli Municipality as full-page advertisements under the guise of news.

• Ahmet Hakan, who previously caused Hürriyet to receive a penalty from the Advertising Board for advertising a mattress company in his column, this time made a “covert advertisement” for a halva brand in his column.

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