BIA² Holds Rights Journalism Seminar in Bolu
A total of 23 reporters from local newspapers, radios and televisions from Bolu and six surrounding provinces attended the seminar at the Bolu Yurdaer Hotel in November 27-28, 2004.
Representatives from Bolu Women's Initiative and "Ucan Supurge" (Flying Broom) Women's Organization also attended the seminar.
As with previous training programs, the program comprised of the following topics: "The dilemmas of the media and the quest for new reporting methods," "Principles of responsible reporting," "Regulations on the rights of the women, children and minorities in the European Union process," "News value of rights struggles," and "Local Media Describes Reporting." The participants also broke into three groups and held workshops on "examples of reporting based on rights."
Dr. Ciler Dursun from the Communications Faculty of Ankara University, Prof. Dr. Levent Koker from the Law Faculty of Atilim University, Associate-Professor Dr. Gulgun Tosun from the Communications Faculty of Ege University, and Oguz Haksever from NTV made presentations at the seminar.
The participants were local media employees from the provinces of Ankara, Bolu, Eskisehir, Istanbul, Karabuk and Kocaeli.
The seminar began with the opening speech of BIA ² coordinator Ertugrul Kurkcu. During the first session, Ragıp Duran and Dr. Dursun made presentations on "The dilemmas of the media and the quest for new reporting methods," and " Principles of responsible reporting."
Journalist Duran talked about the importance of increasing the number of news sources.
Dr. Dursun, who spoke after Duran said he understands the economic concerns of local media but added the reporters should review their relations with certain news.
Dursun used some examples of TV news to comment on the different ways of presenting news and the use of language. Dursun and the participants also discussed how the the cases of human rights violations are covered and how the coverage could be improved.
During the second session on Saturday, the participants broke into three groups of "print media," "radio" and "television" for the workshop on "Examples of reporting based on rights."
The participants in the "radio" group talked about the characteristics of radio reporting and discussed the decisions and practices of the Radio and Television Higher Board (RTUK). Ragip Duran directed the workshop. Duran also gave examples of reporting in a number of foreign radios.
The participants of the "television" group, talked about the news language and format, which is fluent and memorable. During the workshop directed by Oguz Haksever, who presents the "Ve Insan" (And Humans) program on the private NTV television, the participants also discussed the importance of identifying targets. The participants were also given some technical information on the fundamentals of television reporting.
Murat Celikkan from Radikal newspaper, who directed the workshop with the "newspaper" group, said it is impossible for reporting to be objective.
"We are not binoculars or mirrors with no memory or foresight," said Celikkan. The group discussed coverage of human rights violations by using news clips from local and national media.
The participants gathered following the workshops and summarized the issues that they discussed.
The Saturday program ended with dinner.
The second day of the seminar began with Prof. Levent Koker presentation on "New Regulations on the Rights of Women, Children, Minorities in the EU Process."
Koker talked about the philosophical background of the notion of human rights. "Reporters cannot be expected to make an observation without being influenced by a world parameter," said Koker.
Koker also talked about the definitions of ideology and ranges of rights. He gave examples of minority rights, cultural differences and mother-tongue issues and said it is important to define the situation we are in in terms of reporting on rights.
"The Turkish society has still not faced with itself," said Koker. "And the media is facing the consequences." He added that the reporters should realize which sentiments have an influence on reporting on rights.
The second session on Sunday was comprised of Associate Professor Dr. Gulgun Tosun's presentation on "News Value of Rights Struggles." Tosun said the non-governmental organizations and the media should be institutions that convey the needs and demands of the society to the state. She said the local media should know its responsibilities. Tosun also criticized the coverage of rights. Tosun later gave examples of news reports about human rights violations after the approval of EU harmonization laws.
During the last presentation of the seminar, BIA ² coordinator Ertugrul Kurkcu, talked to participants about BİA²'s news Web site bianet. Kurkcu told the local reporters that they could send their stories to bianet, and use the news stories from the site. He said he hoped their cooperation would continue.
The seminar came to an end after a short program by Oguz Haksever on the "Kopruler Kuruyoruz" (We are building bridges) project by Ucan Supurge was creened. The educators and participants gathered in an evaluation meeting at the end of the seminar.
The local reporters said that the seminar had benefited them all and asked for more workshops, and more widespread and frequent seminars. (AB/EA/YE)