Media Moguls are Threatening the Government

RTUK Chair Nuri Kayis: We know that the president is right. But we have to pass the law as it is, because that is what the media moguls want.This is what an acquaintance, a member of the parliament from one of the ruling parties said to me,

Ankara

Speaking at the "Honest Turkey" panel organized by Ege-Koop, Nuri Kayis, the chair of the Radio and Television Supreme Council of Turkey (RTUK), stated that the new RTUK law had many erroneous, inaccurate and disadvantageous aspects.

Kayis said that the members of the parliament would accept the law as it is because that is what the media moguls want.

The topic of the 11th Education Symposium at the Efes Convention Center was, "Honest Turkey". At the panel, where many guests were present as speakers, RTUK chair Nuri Kayis accounted for his thoughts about the new RTUK law and the media.

Kayis had these assessments about the new RTUK law, which is being discussed at the General Council of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. This is What the Media Moguls Want

* At the Constitution Commission, a member of the parliament from one of the ruling parties, whom I have known for many years, said to me, "The president is right, and we know that. But we have to pass the law as it is, because that is what the media moguls want." Some media moguls insist that this law is passed. They threaten to take away their support from the government if the law is not passed.

* I am hoping that the disadvantageous sections of the law will be removed, and a perfect and faultless law will be passed.

* The articles of the law that grant the right to one person to own many numbers of television stations should be reviewed. If one person owns tens of television stations and newspapers, this would lead to monopolies and cartels within the media sector. With this law, the media moguls are also granted the opportunity to bid in state contracts. If they are granted this right, the media moguls will use their power to influence the contracts.

* Moreover, with this new law, the media moguls will be free to trade in the stock market. By trading in the stock market, the media moguls will be able to raise and reduce the share values as they wish, and make trillions.

The Autonomy of RTUK will Collapse

* RTUK's autonomy will also collapse if this new law is passed. RTUK will be an establishment under the control of the Prime Ministry. Under the new law, five of the RTUK members will be chosen by the parliament, and the government will choose four of the members. This means that the governing parties will choose seven out of nine RTUK members. That would pose a serious trouble for RTUK.

* A law should be passed that is specific to the Internet. If we act coercive in this field, the Internet users will switch to foreign hosting companies, and this will lead to capital flights.

* The new RTUK law was accepted without changing a thing.

* But I am placing reliance on the common sense of the members of the parliament. A minister signed the RTUK law that would lead to monopolies and cartels in the media sector too. However, that same minister had written in an article, published in the New Turkey Magazine, that monopolization and cartelization are big dangers. But he is one of the ministers who signed the new law.

* Last year, when the RTUK bill was being discussed at the Parliament, one member of the parliament told me that he agreed with my thoughts about the law and said, "Don't worry, I am with you." However, during that period, the government changed and that member of the parliament became a minister of state.

* That minister represented the government at the discussions for the RTUK bill, and defended the law to the end.

"The Television Programs Have No Quality"

* After the 1980s, the media became a weapon used by the media moguls in their relationships with the state.

* News and comments got entangled. Media owners launched promotions to sell more. As the sound of newspaper pages got mixed up with the sounds of saucepans and plates, the smell of detergent suppressed the smell of ink.

* On the one side, they exhibit the ordinary and hysterical behaviors of black money owners, nightclub singers and so-called models, and their indecent relationships on the television programs. On the other side, they hope to benefit from violent and erotic scenes.

* Media's function was to criticize the government.

* What they understand from economic hardship is not the fact that millions of people are today jobless, but the fact that the owners of now-bankrupt banks are jobless. They are interested in the problems of people who profit from money, not the people who are living in hunger. (BB/EA/NM)