The "Journalism Profession from Traditional to Digital" panel, organized by the Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication Journalism Club, was held at the South Campus Fuat Sezgin Conference Hall. Former Chairman of the Board of Anadolu Agency and Habertürk Newspaper writer Kemal Öztürk, Milat Newspaper Economy Manager and Media Academy Association Deputy Chairman Fırat İpek, former National Media reporter and Yenibirgazete.com online newspaper editor-in-chief, İsmail Polat attended the panel.
The opening speech of the panel, moderated by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication Head of Journalism Department Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, was given by the Dean of the Faculty of Communication, Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör.
Former Chairman of the Board of Anadolu Agency and Habertürk Newspaper writer Kemal Öztürk, Milat Newspaper Economy Manager and Media Academy Association Deputy Chairman Fırat İpek, former National Media reporter and Yenibirgazete.com online newspaper editor-in-chief, İsmail Polat attended the panel as guests.
Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör: “Our journalism students should be able to express their dreams more idealistically”
Dean of the Faculty of Communication Prof. Dr. Nazife Güngör, who started her speech by celebrating January 10 Journalists' Day, said; “I hope that as Turkey, as the world, we move towards better days, towards a brighter future, and that journalists can truly practice their profession. We will reach a point, days, where our journalists can practice their profession. Thus, our journalism students will express their dreams more idealistically and grow into enlightened individuals for the future, people who freely express their thoughts, who can produce, who have a strong pen, enlightened figures and professionals.”
Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan: “Democracy is the oxygen of a free press and journalism, and free journalism is the oxygen of democracy.”
Head of Journalism Department Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, stating that students graduating from the Faculty of Communication have difficulty finding jobs and offering a solution to this issue, said; “In my opinion, everyone whose primary source of income is journalism and whose work is in the press, regardless of the platform they work for, should be considered a journalist. There is serious journalist unemployment in Turkey, especially graduates of communication faculties struggle to find jobs in journalism. Regarding the solution to this problem, in our evaluation meeting with the Press Advertisement Agency, I suggested that an 'additional indicator' be applied if official news websites employ communication faculty graduates; I hope they consider my suggestion. I think faculties that provide journalism education and professional organizations should come together and actually meet at a common point. It should not be forgotten that; democracy is the oxygen of a free press and free journalism, and free journalism is the oxygen of democracy. One cannot exist without the other.”
Kemal Öztürk: “There is a resistance to digitalization in the world”
Former Chairman of the Board of Anadolu Agency and Habertürk Newspaper writer Kemal Öztürk, drawing attention to the importance of adapting to the digitalization process, said; “Just as there was resistance to the widespread adoption of printing presses, there is a resistance to digitalization in our generation across the world. The Press Advertisement Agency printed newspapers on paper for a long time. Because it prints on paper and gives it to newspapers, digital is not developing. They passed a new law. They will also support digital news websites. Newspapers cannot be published by the state; if you publish newspapers with state intervention, you cannot act freely. I am not convinced that we have fully grasped the impact and power of the digital revolution. Something big is happening, something very big is happening. If we don't grasp this and adapt ourselves to it, we will all turn into slaves.”
Fırat İpek; “The journalism profession is a profession that refines and disseminates information”
Milat Newspaper Economy Manager and Media Academy Association Deputy Chairman Fırat İpek, stating that there are some problems in developing a new language for journalism and integrating it into the digital revolution, said; “In developing a new language and transforming it into digital, one cannot proceed with only student cooperation. Here, it should be provided through cooperation between the state, NGOs, universities, and students. The journalism profession is as follows; it is a profession that refines and disseminates information. What I mean by refining information is that official journalism in Turkey started in 1837 and continues to this day with magazines, televisions, internet journalism, and social media. Now, because citizens also practice journalism on social media, all kinds of false information spread very quickly; therefore, verification is very important here.”
İsmail Polat: “If democracy is to be established in Turkey, local media should also be supported”
Yenibirgazete.com newspaper's editor-in-chief, İsmail Polat, stating that local media should be given importance in journalism, said; “If you want democracy to be established in Turkey, you must also support local media. Today, when we talk about media in the world, look, they are all local media. These, Washington Post, The New York Times, look, they are all local newspapers. You see, it's not like that in Turkey, why? Because newspapers work with very limited staff. The problem here is that with so many communication faculties, so many people cannot find jobs. For example, during the Haydarpaşa Train Station fire, a person passing by takes a photo and posts it on Twitter, and all newspapers take that photo. Then you resort to an easy way out. I say from the perspective of managers, this is a problem. You don't hire all these people who finish school either. News never ends in journalism, but what will happen tomorrow is unknown, but we must struggle and work to ensure journalism does not end.”
The panel ended after participants' questions were answered and a group photo was taken.