Prof. Süleyman İrvan: "The media should use its power correctly in the election processes!"

Stating that the media must defend democratic values and convey different opinions, Prof. Süleyman İrvan said that "It should avoid false, fabricated and distorted news aimed at manipulating the decisions of voters. The media should use its status as the fourth power attributed to it in the interests of society."

Noting that a healthy democracy is only possible with a good media, Prof. Süleyman İrvan stated that "Manipulative news headlines and news written to influence public opinion in favor of a certain candidate or party first of all damage trust in the media and journalism."

Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication Faculty Member Prof. Süleyman İrvan evaluated the importance of journalism ethics in election processes and drew attention to the need to use the power of the media correctly in election processes.

"In democracies, it is assumed that informed citizens can make the best decisions"

Pointing out that journalism ethics consists of principles that advise journalists to perform their duties in the best way, Prof. Süleyman İrvan said that "These principles advise journalists to do their jobs correctly, honestly and fairly. Although it is an expected obligation for journalists to act in accordance with these principles under all circumstances, it becomes even more important during election periods when the need for information and news increases because, it is assumed that informed citizens can make the right decisions in democracies."

What is the role of journalists in the electoral process?

Stating that the most important role assigned to journalists in election processes is defined as illuminating the society with accurate information and contributing to the formation of voting decisions, Prof. Süleyman İrvan said that "The responsibility of journalists is to perform these duties properly. Of course, this is not so easy. In multi-party and multi-candidate democracies like Türkiye, it is very difficult for the media and journalists to report fairly without being biased between parties and candidates. What we usually see is that the media reports in favor of parties and candidates who are defined as 'winning', and that parties and candidates defined as 'not winning' are ignored. That is the first problem. The second problem is that most of the media publishes as party media in favor of certain parties. This leads to the fact that other parties and candidates have a very difficult time conveying their views to the voters, and if it were not for social media, they would not be able to reach them at all.”

"The media should use its status as the fourth power in line with the interests of the society"

Emphasizing that the ethical principles of journalism are extremely clear and instructive, and that the media is obliged to convey the facts without distorting them, first of all, in accordance with the public's right to information, Prof. Süleyman İrvan continued his remarks as follows:

"The media must defend democratic values and convey different opinions. It should avoid false, fabricated and distorted news aimed at manipulating voters' decisions. The media should use its status as the fourth power in line with the interests of society. When reporting on public opinion surveys that have the potential to influence the opinions of the society, it should make sure that these studies are carried out within the framework of scientific criteria. Therefore, the imprint of the research must be included in the news.

Parties and candidates should refrain from showing or reporting on them for a fee. If there is an advertising news application called advertorial, this should be clearly stated in the news and voters should not be deceived. The more properly the media does its job during election periods, the more accurately voters can form their preferences. A healthy democracy is only possible with a good media."

"Manipulative news headlines undermine trust in the media and journalism"

Prof. Süleyman İrvan said that "First of all, manipulative news headlines and news written to influence public opinion in favor of a certain candidate or party damage trust in the media and journalism," and İrvan concluded his remarks as follows:

"One of the reasons for the low reputation of the Turkish media in the eyes of the public is this kind of manipulative news. Perhaps a more important risk is that democracy will be discredited. Studies show that negative news, especially during election periods, alienates the public from politics and discourages voters from voting. One of the reasons for the declining proportion of voters in Western countries is the media's emphasis on this negative reporting."

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)