"We Were So Sure We Were Unbiased Journalists...”

At a basic journalism seminar in Thrace, local journalists discussed the independence of journalists, correct reporting, photo reporting and creative journalism.

Tolga Korkut

The comment of the journalists taking part in the journalism workshop in Edirne, organised by IPS Communication Foundation and Press Now, summarised the effect of the workshop:

“We had our minds locked at a certain point, convinced that we were ‘objective’ and ‘unbiased’, thinking we were giving our best…Actually, we started at the right place, started to question those assumptions.”

On 18 and 19 April, local journalists gathered at the Balta Hotel in Edirne, Thrace, and worked with Assoc. Prof. Esra Arsan on basic journalism, processes of journalism and reporting, news language, and relations between journalists and news sources, with Yücel Tuna on photo reporting, and with Nico Haasbroek on ideas for and implementations of creative journalism.

Neutrality and independence

One of the issues most discussed in Arsan’s workshop was “neutrality”. With examples, Arsan showed how impossible it was to be really neutral, and that those who said “I am neutral” were actually hiding their biases.

Another issue she discussed was the relationship local journalists have with official institutions and persons, such as the police and the province and district governors’ offices (valilik and kaymakamlık). One participant expressed the realisation that when journalists reported on bulletins coming from the governor’s office, the municipality, the gendarmerie or the police, they used language that gave the impression that the media had “been there”. Furthermore, there was not enough questioning of the content of the bulletins, again reflected in the reporting, when terms such as “they said that…” were used rather than “they claimed that…”

Pressures felt by local journalists

Several journalists noted at this point that local newspapers were put under pressure by civilian authorities and also faced the “punishment” of advertisement withdrawal if they wrote too critically.

This led to a discussion on the effects of the economic crisis, which has caused a decrease in readers and a reduction in advertisement prices, making it more difficult to survive financially.

Arsan and Haasbroek both discussed the fact that news had to be found away from the desk, in the streets. In an exercise, Haasbroek sent the journalists outside to take photos and make a news item out of an idea.

“Photography is more important than I thought”

This sentence came from several journalists taking part in Tunca’s workshop, where examples of press photography from around the world were considered. Tunca analysed the use of photography in local journalism, the role of photos in page layout and the photographing of news, also providing useful advice.

As one of the participants said in the end, “We have to apply what we have learned,” and another, “I am going to share what I learned here with my friends who could not come. This has to be shared.” (TK/AG)

Participants in the workshop were:

Edirne

Yavuz Göktaş (Edirne Gündem newspaper), Tamer Yavuz (Edirne newspaper), İsmail Aliş (İpsala newspaper), Alpay Ercan (Yeni Gazete), İlker Gürel (Keşan Gündem Saros newspaper), Umut Çatal (Önder newspaper), Murat Savaş (Southeastern Europe Journalists’ Society), Gökhan Balcı (Hudut newspaper), Sevcan Kalıpiçinden (Hudut newspaper), Mehmet Şenol (Edirne newspaper), Elif Davulcu (Edirne Haber newspaper), Ercan Bitti (Yenigün newspaper), Arzu Özdemir (Edirne Gündem), Birol Çakan (Edirne newspaper), Bora Dandinoğlu (22 Haber İnternet newspaper ), Muazzez Aslan (Uzunköprü Adalet newspaper), Samet Yaraşır (Uzunköprü Gürses newspaper), Okan Yavaşer (Uzunköprü newspaper).

Kırklareli, Lüleburgaz

Halit Kaplan, Ertan Bayer (Görünüm newspaper).

Tekirdağ

A.Tamer Avcılar (Çerkezköy newspaper), Adülhamit Albez (Çerkezköy newspaper), Taha Aslanlı (Çerkezköy Haber newspaper), Gökhan Babayiğit (Çerkezköy Haber newspaper), Levent Silistre (Çorlu Avrupa Yakası newspaper), Ozan Turan (Çorlu Avrupa Yakası newspaper), Zaim Erken (Çorlu Kentim newspaper), Naim Yıldız (Çorlu Sabah reporter).