Faruk Bildirici: 'Sabah newspaper must apologize for the doctored photo'

In the photo that adorned Sabah's reports titled "CHP mayor 'DEM-ified' under the terrorist leader's photo," Adana's CHP Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin was seen speaking under a photo of Abdullah Öcalan hanging on the wall, allegedly taken during a visit to DEM Party members before the local elections.

This report spread rapidly across pro-government media in the early hours of April 23.

It was also used with similar headlines on sites such as Akşam, AHaber, Sabah, Takvim, 24TV, TR Haber, and Yeni Akit. Sabah's News Coordinator Kenan Kıran also shared a post on social media at 08:28, stating, "...Sabah has reached the photo."

Media ombudsman and 12punto columnist Faruk Bildirici addressed this issue in his column.

Here is Bildirici's article:

"This photo spread on social media, and among those who shared it was Presidential Advisor Oktay Saral. While sharing the photo, Saral wrote, 'This is not a picture of CHP-DEM partnership, but a clear picture of CHP-PKK cooperation!' and also insulted Oya Tekin.

Mayor Oya Tekin must have noticed the post late, as she responded to Oktay Saral at 21:00 in the evening. In her post, Tekin addressed Oktay Saral, saying, 'I am sharing the original photo so that your immorality can be seen. Remember, we honest people are braver than you liars. I hope you will not engage in the pettiness of misleading this public with poorly doctored photos from now on.'

In the original photo shared by Tekin, there was no photo of Öcalan on the wall. In fact, Oya Tekin had shared her visit to the DEM Party Çukurova District Headquarters on her social media account on January 17, along with photos. She had felt no need to hide the visit."

SARAL DID NOT APOLOGIZE

"In this situation, those who published and shared the doctored photo should apologize. However, Oktay Saral and Kenan Kıran were content with silently deleting their posts.

In fact, when the intensity of the criticism directed at him increased, Oktay Saral, instead of taking a step back, defended his sharing of the 'doctored photo.' He even tried to justify the doctoring of Öcalan into the photo by saying, in summary, 'To form an alliance with this mentality is to sit in the shadow of the 'Statue of the Terrorist Leader,' let alone sitting under his photo.'

He did not even consider resigning from the office he holds or apologizing."

THE SOURCE OF THE DOCTORING MUST BE EXPLAINED

"The pro-government media, just like Oktay Saral, did not admit the mistake they made; the same political logic manifested itself there as well. Instead of making a statement and apologizing for the doctored photo, Sabah newspaper removed the doctored image and continued to publish the story with the headline: 'Here is the photo of the CHP-DEM cooperation: It has emerged that Adana's CHP Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin visited the DEM Party during her election campaign.'

There were those who continued to publish the story like Sabah by replacing the doctored photo with the original, and there were those who deleted it. However, not only did no apology come from any of them, but 24TV and Yeni Akit did not even do that; they kept the story with the doctored photo exactly as it was. These reports with the doctored photo are still online.

Despite Mayor Oya Tekin's denial and her explanation of the original photo, Akşam newspaper also published the doctored photo in its print edition on April 24 with the headline 'CHP mayor posed with Öcalan poster.' After warnings from Zafer Arapkirli and other journalists on social media, the report on Akşam's website was deleted.

However, Akşam did not apologize for the false photo and report in the printed newspaper either."

IF THE GOAL WERE JOURNALISM...

"Unfortunately, there is not even a trace of journalism in this incident. If it were journalism, when a photo arrived, it would be asked to the subject, and it would be researched from its source. If they had researched it, they could have seen the original on social media. This means they did not research it.

If it were journalism, it would not be enough to delete it after it was revealed to be a montage; they would have needed to apologize. Continuing the lie as if they had uncovered a secret meeting cannot have anything to do with good intentions."

News Source: 12punto