The issue of journalists traveling to Italy with İmamoğlu

The fact that Ekrem İmamoğlu took 43 journalists with him to Rome, where he went for a signing ceremony, has been a subject of debate for days. The issue of journalists attending such invitations is always a controversial topic.

First, as someone who has pondered this subject, let's write down the clear rule on this matter:

A journalist does not participate in a trip paid for by someone else because if they do, they lose their objectivity and write with bias.

Let alone participating in a trip, if a journalist is going to write a theater review, they do not even accept a complimentary ticket for the play. Indeed, the London Times, published in England, made it a rule for reporters writing theater reviews to have their tickets purchased by the newspaper, I believe in the 1840s, that is, two centuries ago, and in those years, newspapers had not even started to be published in Turkey yet.

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Let's include here some articles from the 'Ethical Principles' book of the New York Times, the world's most well-known and powerful newspaper, so that the subject becomes clearer; the rules are as follows:

The New York Times pays the expenses of the reporter who will cover the news if an invitation or travel by news sources, including government officials, is involved.

Members of the sports department cannot accept tickets, travel expenses, meals, gifts, or any other benefit from teams or organizers, except when a special press card is required to cover sports events.

A reporter pays for every meal ordered for them unless there is a very special situation where it would be considered rude. If they are not paying for it, they do not attend a breakfast or lunch organized for the press by a "news source." Only a simple cake and coffee buffet at a press conference is harmless.

Staff cannot accept free or discounted transportation and accommodation, except in cases where special circumstances offer very few or no options. If there is a very special situation, such as a trip on a company private jet or a military aircraft, editors are consulted.

There is no need to prolong this, because the list goes on and on. So much so that New York Times reporters do not accept just any award offered by anyone; it is forbidden, only very special media awards can be accepted. There is no need to even remind about the prohibition of accepting gifts; it is forbidden.

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Now let's come to the situation of everyone except for a few media outlets in Turkey and a few exceptional countries in the world.

There are such rules in journalism, but they are definitely not applied in Turkey and in underdeveloped countries like Turkey. Therefore, journalists in Turkey run to invitations and then write their news, because unfortunately, there is no media organization in Turkey that will apply the above rules.

No media organization you can think of would send its reporter to Italy for İmamoğlu's signing ceremony; even if they wanted to, they couldn't. We do not have an institution with such financial power and such an ethical understanding. Furthermore, for example, if Koç Holding or a minister from the palace invites a journalist on a private trip, there is no brave soul who would not accept it.

Our Fatih Altaylı boasts for years in the newspapers he managed, saying 'I never sent anyone on an overseas trip,' but I am sure that even he did not follow this rule, it is recorded in the archives; search and you will find it in Scotland.

Let me give you an example from my own experience:

In June 2016, while I was working at Cumhuriyet Newspaper, businessman Ali Sabancı's shipping company had invited us to watch a match of Turkey in the World Cup finals in France. I went to that, and I witnessed the outbursts on the field by Fatih Terim, who lost his composure when he lost the match, and I wrote about this in the newspaper. In fact, the news did not appear in any newspaper other than Cumhuriyet, and a colleague gave us the photos privately to use because his own newspaper did not want to publish them, as apparently, no one wanted to confront Fatih Terim. Then do you know what happened?

When the managers of Cumhuriyet at that time fired me from the newspaper, they cited this as a reason, even though two or three other journalists from Cumhuriyet had gone to France with a company invitation to watch the same match. They were turned a blind eye to, and it didn't occur to anyone that I had written a scoop; because they were looking for an excuse and they had found it.

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Now let's come to the conclusion and the answer to the question of whether it is shameful or wrong for journalists to participate in İmamoğlu's trip.

As you know, they told the camel, 'Your neck is crooked,' and it replied, 'What part of me is straight?'

In a country with so many crooked things, such things are normal.

And if there is still anyone saying that it is wrong, let the first stone at the one who is at fault be cast by someone who is without sin.