Üsküdar Üniversitesi's Strategy and Research Development Club hosted Journalist Erdoğan Aktaş as the live broadcast guest of its Quarantine Table Talks Program. In the program, which garnered significant interest from communication students, Aktaş shared his experiences in the journalism profession under the title 'Justice and Journalism in Turkey'. Stating that people are forced to digitalize, Aktaş said that with digitalization, journalism and news reporting will never die, but merely evolve to a new dimension.
“The ranking tells everything”
Erdoğan Aktaş, speaking about justice and journalism in Turkey, said: “In fact, both very general and very serious things can be discussed. Because Turkey is currently third from the bottom in the global press freedom ranking. This ranking tells almost everything. Turkey has experienced very serious economic difficulties. People working in the media system were also affected by this. For example, Olay TV was opened and had to close. Furthermore, the last decade was marked by the organization known as FETÖ, and many journalist colleagues faced difficulties. We have left behind a very problematic decade.”
“Journalism will not die, it will level up”
Aktaş stated that the pandemic process we are experiencing, along with technological developments, will go down in history as a digital coup: “Both technological developments, the transformation of the world, and this pandemic process we are experiencing will go down in history as a digital coup. People are forced to digitalize. But journalism and news reporting will never die; they will merely level up. During this period, there are difficulties in print journalism. Under these circumstances, print newspapers have declined. Especially in television, there are significant changes and diversifications. Consumer and producer habits are changing. Content producers need to act by observing their audience.”
“Let's make money, but first let's be ethical”
Aktaş stated that the presence of media moguls in many sectors such as finance, banking, construction, and tourism is the biggest problem for Turkish media: “This situation is very wrong. In the past, patrons were only interested in media. Patrons should invest what they earn from media back into media. It's not like that now. We need such patrons. Not just for the media sector, but generally in our country, we must be as ethical as a Dane, Norwegian, or Swede. If we want to make money, let's work, but first let's be ethical.”
“Friends who develop themselves will make a difference”
Aktaş stated that journalism is not a job exclusively for Communication Faculty graduates: “As a manager, I try to prefer those who study politics, history, philosophy, and law. This does not mean leaving Communication Faculties in the background. People need to develop themselves. A reporter is someone who provides news. Therefore, friends who read, develop themselves, and follow the agenda will make a difference in reporting and journalism.”
News: Betül Yiğit