The record holder for invited trips

Invited journalism continues at full speed, regardless of the criticism. Since Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s trip to Rome, only one difference has emerged; this time, İmamoğlu, who went to Bucharest for the European Olympic Committees General Assembly, did not take any journalists with him.

Kavaklıdere took a group of journalists to France on an invited trip to show off the vineyards and the chateau they acquired in the Castillon region of Bordeaux. The company owner Ali Başman and his daughters Cevza and Aslı Başman went to Bordeaux together with journalists Ertuğrul Özkök, Şelale Kadak, Deniz Sipahi (Hürriyet), Müge Akgün (Hürriyet), Elif Ergu Demiral (Gazete Oksijen), Şükrü Andaç (Milliyet), Mehmet Yalçın (T24), Bülent Cankurt (Sabah), and Vahap Munyar (Ekonomi).

Özkök did not name the journalists other than the "beverage writer" Mehmet Yalçın this time, but the full list was included in the columns of Vahap Munyar and Müge Akgün.

Pepsi also invited a group of journalists to London to watch the UEFA Champions League final match played at Wembley. Among the invited journalists, I was only able to identify the names of Ali Eyüboğlu (Milliyet), Sinan Özedincik (Sabah), and Hakan Çelik (Posta/CNN Türk).

Ali Eyüboğlu not only made posts on social media tagging the beverage company but also provided the information in his article that "I have had the chance to watch five final matches from the stands as a guest of PepsiCo, the sponsor of the UEFA Champions League."

Sabah columnist Mahmut Övür also watched the opening of the "Turkish Park" in Prague; he showered praise on Ambassador Egemen Bağış in his article. However, he did not provide any information about whether he went to Prague as an invitee.

The name who has participated in the most invited trips lately is Ertuğrul Özkök. After İmamoğlu’s Rome trip and Limak’s Barcelona trip, he appeared on the Bordeaux trip. Three trips in a row...

Let me remind you that these trips do not function as journalism, but rather as promotion for the host who issued the invitation.

WHILE TRYING TO COVER UP A SHAME...

While TRT and Halkbank were trying to cover up their shame with access ban decisions, they made even more serious mistakes. TRT Spor describing a female spectator's nipple being visible for a few seconds during a moment of joy at the Women's National Volleyball Team's match in the USA as a "disturbing situation" very well reflected the sensitivity points of those who manage TRT.

The best response to TRT Spor, which runs public broadcasting with this mindset, was Zaytung's post: "2.5 million more in 'peace of mind' fees will be paid to TRT Board members whose peace was disturbed by a nipple that entered the frame during the volleyball match." After all, those who are disturbed by the appearance of a nipple are not disturbed by receiving millions from the public purse!

Halkbank was not content with getting an access ban on Timur Soykan's news in BirGün titled "450 million TL loan from Halkbank to the mafia"; it also attempted to prevent the broadcast of the news on TV channels through RTÜK President Ebubekir Şahin. The statement Şahin made after his post announcing that "TV executives were warned" regarding Timur Soykan was also quite something.

Şahin was delivering a verdict that "the loan news was untrue," but at the same time, by admitting that "RTÜK experts gave constructive warnings to broadcasters regarding the publication ban," he was confessing that the broadcasters were being threatened.

In fact, there was no publication ban issued by the court! There was only an access ban and a content removal decision. Furthermore, the news was true and documented; it was Şahin's statement that was actually untrue. Since Şahin is also a member of the Halkbank Board of Directors, he was trying to earn his "peace of mind" money. This is what happens when one person holds positions in two separate institutions and earns income from two separate institutions...

NOT AN AWARD, BUT A PLAQUE CEREMONY

The "Media Awards" ceremony of the Anatolian Broadcasters Association, a favorite of the Presidency, was held at the Palace again this year. I counted; with honors, solidarity, and loyalty, exactly 36 people and institutions were awarded.

Association President Sinan Burhan, a columnist for Yeni Akit, is also an AKP Ankara Municipal Council member, a party member. The names of those on the award jury are nowhere to be found. The list announced months ago and the list of those who were given "awards" at the Palace are also different. For example, Sinan Burhan had announced that they would give the "Social Media Phenomenon of the Year" award to Adem Metan, but at the ceremony, he was given an "award" in the "Digital Content Creator of the Year" category. It was announced that Deniz Gürel would be given the "Investigative Journalist of the Year" award, but this award later became "TV Editor-in-Chief of the Year."

Furthermore, it is unknown why these "awards" were given to those people and institutions, or for which news or activities. For example, it is unclear for which comments Zafer Şahin, who was chosen as the "TV Commentator of the Year," was deemed worthy of such an "award." However, an award is given for a piece of news or an activity carried out during that year. That is missing here too.

It is clear that the criteria for the "awards" have nothing to do with journalism or broadcasting. The distribution of the list already shows that the goal is to reward almost the entire pro-government media in some way. In other words, it is a situation of friends hosting each other.

I wish they would call it a "plaque ceremony" instead of an "award." That would be more accurate. Although they are not the only ones who distribute "plaques" every year instead of awards, I will write about them too when the time comes...

"SO-CALLED" NEWS, SO-CALLED JOURNALISM

"So-called" (sözde) is an adjective that has become a cliché in the language of journalists. Starting in the 1980s with the state's designation of the "so-called Armenian genocide," the word "so-called," which has become a cliché in the language of journalists over time, is now stuck everywhere like a label.

Most recently, I saw "so-called" in the headline of the MHP's newspaper Türkgün as "So-called Mayor of Hakkâri." This word was also used in the Anadolu Agency headline, "16 PKK terrorists, including so-called leaders, were neutralized in northern Iraq."

However, the meaning of the word "so-called" is "accepted as if it were so, even though it is not so in reality," "supposedly," or "alleged." In this case, when the word "so-called" is placed in front of "PKK leader," it means "accepted as a PKK leader even though they are not actually a PKK leader"! In other words, the exact opposite of what is intended to be said... Hakkâri Mayor Mehmet Sıddık Akış is also not "so-called" anything; on the contrary, he is an elected person who has legally earned that position.

Recently, there was news in Sabah that "PKK's so-called Germany official Saim Çakmak was caught." If it were written directly as "PKK/KCK Germany structure official" without saying "so-called," would the PKK/KCK have been praised? Of course not. This would have been the correct way in terms of Turkish.

A news report in the Türkiye newspaper also stated that "The police raided the Zirek brothers and Alabaylar criminal organizations during their council meeting." In this news, it was not called a "so-called council"! Independent Türkçe also wrote in a news report that "The DHKP-C's Turkey official was also caught in 2017." Is it wrong because they didn't say "so-called"? Absolutely not.

We must get rid of this "so-called" habit in news. A journalist does not use the official language of the state. Insisting on official terminology instead of plain and easily understandable Turkish becomes "so-called journalism."

WEAKNESSES OF FOOTBALL MEDIA

I had criticized Galatasaray Manager Okan Buruk for participating in the profane chants starting with "Your mother..." directed at Fenerbahçe, and the attitude of the football media. A Galatasaray fan responded to this criticism by saying, "You didn't make a sound when Ali Koç was keeping time to the insults directed at Ali Sami Yen." A reader named Harun Bilecek made the following assessment in summary:

"This song is on the tongues of FB fans as a chant, 'Şinanay yavrum sana şinanay... son of a b**** Galatasaray,' and since a few thousand FB fans chanted this for a long time at GS Ram Park, it must have gotten under Okan Buruk's skin."

These might be true; FB fans might have also turned Sezen Aksu's beautiful song "Şinanay" into a profane chant against GS. But that is exactly the point. Profane chants are wrong when FB fans do it, and they are wrong when GS fans do it. Because chants that are profane, insulting, and degrading turn fans into enemies of each other.

Unfortunately, the football media ignores these profane chants and does not oppose them. However, the football media should go after such alienating chants and criticize them regardless of who does it. This is essential for peace to come to football fields.

Indeed, Okan Buruk, who learned a lesson from the criticisms, apologized for the profane chants, saying, "There were parts where we exaggerated during the championship celebrations." This apology, which is rarely seen in the football community, is very valuable.

Acting with partisanship and being unable to display a critical approach is the biggest weakness of the football media. FB's new Manager Jose Mourinho noticed another weakness in his very first press conference. He warned the journalists, saying, "Questions should be short."

I also listened to the football writers' questions a bit. They were really giving speeches instead of asking questions. They were trying to show off instead of asking questions. This is what happens if football writers become "talking heads" on screens...

In a single sentence:

• Yeni Akit supported the attacker who killed a police officer and injured five others by headlining, "An attack that taught a lesson to the German politician who burned the Quran"; it committed a crime by praising violence.
• Posta announced the capture of a person who stabbed a young girl on the street with the headline "Turned out to be bipolar," showing all bipolar patients as attackers - even though it was unrelated.
• Türkiye newspaper, in its "Earthquake house opportunism" news based on a real estate agent instead of data, blamed earthquake survivors who rented out their TOKİ houses and lived elsewhere without questioning them at all.
• Ekotürk programmer Ahu Orakçıoğlu interviewed businessman Süleyman Orakçıoğlu, who is also her husband, in a session of the "Retail Days" held in Istanbul.
• Diyanet Affairs President Erbaş did not answer the Sözcü TV reporter's question about his luxury vehicles; the person who said he was his "photographer" also blocked the reporter.
• Hepsiburada set an exemplary attitude by not distinguishing between pro-government and opposition media while placing full-page advertisements on the back pages of 23 newspapers on the same day.
• As in the case of Alper Gezeravcı, information regarding the cost of the journey of Tuva Cihangir Atasever, who participated in a 70-minute "suborbital flight," was not included in the news.
• IHA made news with the exaggerated expression "Snakes invaded the Megacity" because two snakes were seen in two separate sites in the rural part of Istanbul.
• The pro-government media ignored the protests against the draft law on putting stray dogs to sleep held in Istanbul and many other cities; it continued its news campaign against them.
• Milliyet, in its "Occupation lodge in the seas" news, did not specify where and in which facility the photos of the lodge inside the sea were taken, hiding the actual addressee and generalizing the accusation.
• Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya made a statement to journalists in front of the collapsed building in Istanbul's Küçükçekmece, but not a single question came from the journalists at the end.

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