Faruk Bildirici: 'Ahmet Hakan does not realize he is the Editor-in-Chief of Hürriyet'

In any case, the signing ceremony held because the 2027 European Games will be held in Istanbul did not receive such extensive coverage in the media. Only opposition news channels broadcast a portion of İmamoğlu's ceremony speech live, and that was it.

İmamoğlu's speech coincided with the announcement of the verdict in the 'Kobani case.' As far as I could see, Sözcü TV broadcast İmamoğlu's speech instead of the statements of DEM Party executives in front of the courthouse. Halk TV turned to İmamoğlu's speech after Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan.

Who paid for the food?

It is possible to answer the question of who paid for the journalists' food by looking at the “Draft Program” text prepared by the İBB before the trip.

The program states that they would stay at the Parco Dei Principi Grand Hotel on May 16 and that lunch would be held in the hotel's ballroom “hosted by our Honorable Mayor.” It is stated that “the entire delegation will attend the meal in the company of our Honorable Mayor (that is how it is written in the text).” This means that all 37 journalists on the trip were also invited to the meal.

Let me state immediately that the number of invited journalists in the draft program is 44. Since nine names on the invitation list did not attend or could not attend, the number of journalists who went to Rome as guests is 37. I am stating this number based on the list of names in Ertuğrul Özkök's article.

While I am at it, let me state that while so many journalists participated in this trip, we learned all the information that laid the groundwork for this discussion on professional ethics from Özkök's article. I hope Özkök's article reminds journalists who follow politics of the value of conveying observations.

THE ENTIRE SECOND DAY IS FREE TIME

At dinner, the journalists and İmamoğlu's official delegation were separated. The program provides the information that “Only the İBB official delegation and TMOK (Turkish National Olympic Committee) representatives will attend the meal; for other delegation members, a reservation has been made by the İBB at Molto Restaurant.”

From this, it is understood that the journalists' dinner at Molto Restaurant was covered “by the İBB.” While İmamoğlu was at another restaurant again for lunch on May 17, it was reported that “lunch service would be opened” for journalists at the hotel. Of course, some journalists may have preferred to eat lunch at other restaurants.

The interesting part is that there was not a single program for journalists to follow on May 17. Free time until 14:45. Nevşin Mengü uses this time to run, and others to tour Rome. For İmamoğlu, a “cultural-social program separate from the delegation is organized,” then they meet at the hotel, set off for the airport, and return to Turkey.

It seems it would have been fine if the program had not been dragged into the second day and they had returned without staying at the hotel at all; the signing ceremony and all the meetings were on the first day anyway...

EXPENSES OF ERDOĞAN'S PLANE

Sabah newspaper columnist Hilal Kaplan, like Ahmet Hakan, while criticizing İmamoğlu's Rome trip, notes that journalists pay for their own hotel and food expenses on President Erdoğan's trips. They only don't pay for the plane ticket.

However, what is important is that not a single penny from the public budget should be paid for trips journalists take for news. Just as it is wrong for İmamoğlu to take journalists to Rome from the İBB budget and have their travel, hotel, and food expenses paid, it is at least as contrary to the professional codes of journalism for pro-government journalists who board President Erdoğan's plane not to contribute to the plane's expenses.

Think about it, before Erdoğan, the expenses of the President's plane were calculated, and journalists were asked to split and pay them. In the USA and European countries, it is still like that. The travel, communication, and hotel expenses of journalists participating in President Biden's trips are invoiced by a company related to this business. Sometimes there are even complaints from media organizations that they are being overcharged. The only thing journalists do not pay for on trips they take with the President is the food served on the plane.

In any case, what is important is the journalism done on those planes. I wish writers who board Erdoğan's plane, like Ahmet Hakan and Hilal Kaplan, would also talk about the journalism they cannot do there. They cannot talk about it, because not only can they not ask the questions they want there, but they also publish texts that are handed to them after being deciphered. They cannot even put their observations about what happened on the plane into writing.

JOURNALIST WHO IS A TRT BOARD MEMBER

It is extremely justified for Hilal Kaplan to title her criticism of İmamoğlu's Rome trip “With our love and our taxes from Rome” and say, “I am sure one of the enterprising journalists taken to Rome by Ekrem İmamoğlu will calculate the entire cost. Thus, we will learn how many retirement salaries were squandered by the İBB on its cronies.”

However, while saying this, Hilal Kaplan should also look at herself. Because although she is a Sabah newspaper columnist, she is also a member of the TRT Board of Directors. As a journalist, she enters the position of a state employee and earns income from the public budget. This is not an attitude that can be reconciled with journalism. A journalist who values the proper spending of taxes in this country should not see public resources as a source of extra income.

WHY ARE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE STANDS?

In short, consistency is very important in journalism; we should not perceive or defend ethical principles differently depending on the situation or the person. We should discuss boarding the planes of Erdoğan, İmamoğlu, or others as guests based on ethical principles, not parties or individuals.

What is ethically wrong is not just İmamoğlu taking 37 journalists as guests to Rome and covering all expenses from the İBB budget. President Erdoğan honoring pro-government journalists with the state plane, and even ministries, companies, parties, politicians, and organizations taking journalists on invited trips and having them write commissioned promotional “news” is also contrary to the spirit of journalism.

Because journalists establishing financial interest relationships with people and institutions that are news sources reflects negatively on reporting; it damages independence. The trust relationship between journalists and media organizations and their readers and viewers is shaken. Therefore, journalists' travel expenses should be covered by their institutions.

What I really don't understand is that journalism professional organizations never get involved in these discussions, and are content with watching from afar... Isn't it time for professional organization managers to come down from their boxes in the stands?"