Conquest fever has gripped the media

It seems the mainstream media world thinks the public is blind and deaf; they are all playing a game of deceiving the people together. They described the flare-up of the civil war in Syria as if Turkey had no role in the attacks by HTS and the Syrian National Army, and as if they were acting completely independently.

 On the other hand, however, they counted the changes on the map and the hoisting of the Turkish flag over the Aleppo Citadel as a gain for our country. They have engaged in a style of journalism that has lost its cool and—in the words of M. Ali Güller—has been swept up in a "conquest fever." The media power that unconditionally supported Turkey's involvement in the Syrian civil war 12 years ago has once again donned its boots. 

The newspaper Akşam has already begun marching toward Aleppo to the sound of Mehter marches. Under the headline "To Tel Rifaat with the Mehter march," it published a photo of the "Crescent and Star on the Aleppo Citadel," writing above it, "The people of Aleppo, who last wanted to join Turkey in 1948, have hoisted the Turkish flag on the citadel."  The MHP's newspaper, Türkgün, also stated, "Aleppo will return to its roots," above a photo of the flag.

Sabah columnist Hilal Kaplan wrote an article titled, "The Turkish flag suited the Aleppo Citadel very well." Akşam columnist Turgay Güler poured his joy into lines in his piece, "That flag waving on the Aleppo Citadel." In the newspaper Türkiye, Yılmaz Bilgen also claimed that "the people of Aleppo want to switch to the Turkish Lira." 

This is journalism that perfectly aligns with the defense of MHP Chairman and ruling coalition partner Bahçeli, who justified the hoisting of the Turkish flag on the Aleppo Citadel by saying, "Aleppo is Turkish and Muslim to its core." But the meaning of hoisting one country's flag on another country's citadel is clear. In such a situation, for journalists to support the act instead of questioning the reasons and motives behind it is an indicator of how far war-mongering has spiraled out of control. 

This stance of the pro-government media has also been reflected in the language used in their broadcasts. HTS (Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham), which acts in coordination with the Turkey-organized Syrian National Army, has been included under the definition of "opposition." Some figures, such as Hülya Hökenek on Habertürk, even preferred to call them "revolutionaries." Yet, HTS is a Salafi jihadist organization that Turkey itself recognizes as a terrorist group. 

Unfortunately, journalism did not fulfill its duty at the beginning of the Syrian civil war, and it is not doing so now. They appear to have learned no lessons from the heavy price Turkey paid for taking sides in someone else's war. When party partisanship takes precedence over patriotism, defending peace does not even cross their minds.

That is why they were able to run headlines like 'Turkey did what was necessary' when HTS toppled the Assad regime.  They are cheering as if they have won a war. Of course, Syria being rid of the bloody Assad administration is a positive change, but this conquest fever could bring new costs to our country. 

It is precisely the time for journalism that looks out for one's country, its people, and peace... 

THE BOSS-APPLAUDING FOOTBALL MEDIA 

The administrative chaos at Beşiktaş has laid bare the importance of editorial independence in football writing. 

Yıldırım Demirören's views on the events at Beşiktaş were published in the Fanatik, Hürriyet, Milliyet, and Posta newspapers. All four are newspapers owned by Demirören. As the boss, he summoned his newspaper executives and sports editors, told them his side, and they wrote it down...

But since it was an interview with the boss, the necessary questions were not asked. It was a conversation that announced he wanted to be president again, as if Yıldırım Demirören had had a very successful presidency at Beşiktaş. However, the instructions must not have been limited to just that, as Fanatik, Hürriyet, Milliyet, and Posta continued their boss's campaign with full-page reports. 

Former president Fikret Orman also spoke on Ekol TV, with Candaş Tolga Işık as his interviewer. As academic and sports writer Hülya Coşkun pointed out, Işık was a member of the Beşiktaş board of directors during the Fikret Orman era. With such a connection between them, it was impossible for this to be a critical interview.

First and foremost, it is against professional ethics for a journalist to be an executive at a professional sports club. Violating that principle and then hosting a program with their former president, as if they were practicing independent journalism, is another mistake.

RIGHT OF REPLY FOR A DECEASED WOMAN!

There were four doctors, two of whom were gynecologists, on the program on Now TV that day. Çağla Şıkel began her remarks in front of the doctors by saying, "There is a story about a woman who gave birth at 101 years old":

"She is Italian, Anatolia Verdatella. She became the world's oldest woman to give birth by having a baby at 101 via a sperm donor. The ovarian transplant was also performed in Turkey."

Then she paused for a moment. "Do you think this is real? How did we miss this woman? Is it right for something like this to be done at 101?" she asked. The doctors did not object, saying, "No, such a thing cannot be, it did not happen"; nor did they ask, "Are you sure?"

While they were expressing their astonishment, Çağla Şıkel continued her speech, saying, "I couldn't be sure she gave birth, but it appeared on all the news sites and so on." At that moment, the control room must have warned her through her earpiece, as she said, "Of course, there is no 100 percent certainty." She then continued her remarks by saying, "Of course, if she is still alive, she always has the right of reply."

I could not understand why Çağla Şıkel granted a "right of reply," but if she had done a proper search on the internet, she would have realized that the news she was talking about was fabricated and would not have mentioned it on the program at all. 

When the "birth at 101" news began circulating about three years ago, Teyit, Doğruluk Payı, and AFP had examined it and determined it was completely false. The woman seen in the photograph was not Italian, but American Rosa Camfield; she had not given birth at 101, she was simply holding her grandchild. She passed away a week after that photo was taken in 2015. 

If you give a program to someone who lacks even basic media literacy simply because they are a beautiful and famous model, such blunders are inevitable. It is her own problem if she believes everything she sees, but who knows how many people watching that program believed the lie about the 101-year-old birth... 

JUDGES OF THE NARIN AND NEWBORN GANG CASES 

I had criticized the fact that the names of the judges and prosecutors were not written in the Narin Güran case in Diyarbakır. Even in the report titled 'The judge even took off his robe,' the judge's name was not mentioned.

Similarly, the names of the judges were not written in the reports on the 'Newborn gang' case in Istanbul. In reports by Hürriyet, BirGün, Milliyet, Karar, and Türkiye titled 'The court president reacted to the defendants,' and in almost all trial reports across the media, the judge's name was missing. 

However, when the name is missing, the subject of the news becomes ambiguous. The answer to the 'Who' question of the 5W1H rule, which is the fundamental principle of journalism, remains missing in the report. The trial is completely public, and the names of the court panel are clearly written in the minutes, so there is no point in hiding the judge's name. 

There can be no legal objection to writing the names of judges and prosecutors either. The issue of 'disclosing the identities of public officials involved in the fight against terrorism' under Article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law may cover judges and prosecutors in terrorism cases. But neither the Narin Güran case nor the 'Newborn gang' case has any connection to terrorism. In fact, I saw that the name of the prosecutor in the 'Newborn' case was written as Kadir Kocakaya in some reports.

Furthermore, if lawyers try to step into the spotlight in such major cases, the judges and prosecutors presiding over the cases surely want their names to be known and recognized. Therefore, I will write them: The prosecutors of the Narin Güran case are Ahmet Kuşak and Özge Nida Polat, and the court president is Ramazan Dündar. The prosecutor of the 'Newborn gang' case is Kadir Kocakaya, and the president is Olgun Düzgün.

Even in the military courts during the September 12 era, the names of judges and prosecutors were written openly. Let us not practice self-censorship and fall behind those days. 

In a single sentence:

The "International Media in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Summit" organized by RTÜK in Ankara on November 21 was sponsored by Türk Telekom and Halkbank, as well as digital platforms Amazon Prime, Netflix, GAİN, and Exxen, which RTÜK is tasked with regulating.

Nevşin Mengü, who has previously used journalism for advertising by filming videos for brands such as cars and food supplements, this time conducted an advertising interview for a company that produces medical supplies, which she claimed was "growing exponentially in Ankara," and shared it on social media. 

Halktv.com.tr distorted the words of BirGün columnist Aziz Çelik, who did not provide a figure for the minimum wage and stated that the Determination Commission was a formality, with the headline: "Aziz Çelik gave a figure! Explosive minimum wage insider information."

Türkiye declared S. Orçun Masatçı a criminal in its report titled "They made a terror suspect a coordinator," despite there being no information that he had been convicted, basing its claim solely on the fact that he had been detained three years ago.  

On the occasion of its first flight to Sydney, Turkish Airlines (THY) took journalists Osman Ateşli (Haber7), Uğur Cebeci (Hürriyet), Fulya Soybaş (Hürriyet), Özay Şendir (Milliyet), Bedir Acar (Akşam), Ömer Karahan (Sabah), and Şirin Sever (Posta) to Australia as guests.

In its report on the banning of Nâzım Hikmet's book "Epic of the National Forces" (Kuvayi Milliye Destanı) in libraries, Hürriyet censored the naked female body drawn by Nuri Kurtcebe by placing a caption bubble over it in the newspaper and cropping the bottom of the photo on its website.

Sözcü, İnternethaber, ABC Haber, and Akşam quoted the story "Female police officer arrested for allegedly defrauding billionaire businessman" without citing T24 as the source. 

The Turkish Journalists Association and professional organizations were not invited to the "Symposium on News Copyright and Artificial Intelligence in Media," organized by Boğaziçi University and Anadolu Agency.

On "World Miners Day," Sabah, Milliyet, and Yeni Şafak published three pages of sponsored content featuring the views and expectations of mining companies instead of the miners themselves.

In the December 3 issue of Cumhuriyet, there was not the slightest information regarding where the photo showing a vehicle convoy related to the clashes in Syria was taken, who took it, or its context.  

Despite the known fact that suicides are contagious, Korkusuz published a story about a doctor's suicide under the headline "The tragic end of a young doctor suffering from depression," while also specifying the method of suicide.

Akşam reported on a man who murdered a woman who had left him and was living with someone else, using a headline that justified the act by stating, "He slaughtered his wife's forbidden love in the street."

In Karar's report titled "Attack on Iraqi leader's secretary in Fatih," the name of the assailant was first written as Fikret D., but a few sentences later, his surname was explicitly stated as Demir.  

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