Workshop with Media Professionals and Government Officials
Our second workshop, held on September 23, brought together three media professionals, three government officials, Bahçesehir University faculty, and the project team. Dr. Ali Gemuhluoglu (Secretary General of the Turkish Radio and Television TRT), Sevgi Çoskunserçe (Region Manager of Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) in Adana), Cem Erkul (Specialist in Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture – Copyrights and Cinema Head Office), Mustafa Asçioglu (Manager of Kanal D News Service), Tugrul Eryilmaz (Chief Editor of Radikal 2 Newspaper and Milliyet Sanat Magazine), Sahin Alpay (Columnist for Zaman Newspaper and Scholar at Bahçesehir University) and Bahçesehir University Scholars, Prof. Dr. Haluk Gürgen, Prof. Dr. Orhan Tekelioglu and Mahmut Çinar participated in our workshop. The project team in attendance was composed of Asst. Prof. Dr. Savas Arslan, Asst. Prof. Dr. Defne Karaosmanoglu, Volkan Aytar and Aysegül Kesirli.
In the workshop, the first issue the participants addressed was the European Union's image in Turkey and the media channels' effects on the formation of this image. Mustafa Asçioglu pointed out the fact that the news about the EU is perceived as unappealing and diplomatic by the audiences. Kanal D, an entertainment channel, feels the need to make EU-related news be more colorful and inclusive of Turkish perspective to attract the viewer's attention. On the other hand, Asçioglu also underlined the fact that whenever the channel broadcasts a live interview with European Union authorities, the ratings increased immediately. This indicates that in the case of critical situations, Turkish viewers develop an interest in EU-related news and as Mahmut Çinar underlined the interaction between the Turkish public and the EU is actually formed across media channels.
With regard to the European Media and Cultural Studies master's progamme, Tugrul Eryilmaz stressed that the programme should study the portrayal of the EU in the Turkish media as well as focus on the media portrayal of Turks in Europe because this is a research area which concerns both cultural studies and media studies. He also emphasized that the programme should focus on everyday and material activities in relation to cultures, while maintaining an open eye with regards to the views and opinions of non-academic organizations and groups.
The TRT general secretary, Ali Gemuhluoglu announced that the TRT is working on a deal with the Euronews channel, a multilingual news channel founded in 1992 in Lyon under European Broadcasting Union project against the broadcasting monopoly that was created by transnational agencies during the Gulf War. Gemuhluoglu explained that the TRT will organize the Turkish feeds of Euronews and the necessary infrastructure. According to the plan, the Turkish staff who will work at the headquarters of Euronews will follow their journalistic policies.
Gemuhluoglu stressed that these Turkish journalists will have a say in the editorial process and will make European news understandable in Turkish. For him, the most important aim of the project is to provide European countries true and unbiased news about Turkey. Additionally, the Turkish feed of Euronews will offer the Turkish public critical approaches to Turkey from a European point of view as well. In this way, European countries will get more information about Turkey and the Turkish public will
have better access to European
news about their country. After Gemuhluoglu's introduction, all of the participants believed that the Turkish feed of Euronews will support the formation of an information highway between Europe and Turkey and that the objectives of Turkish Euronews and the European Media and Cultural Studies master's programme are concurrent in many ways.
The Dean of Communication Faculty Prof. Dr. Haluk Gürgen pointed out that European Media and Cultural Studies Master's Programme and the project aim to concentrate on the interaction between Europe and other regions with a specific focus on media and cultural studies. However, the programme's aim is neither to adopt the ideology of the EU nor to create a political attitude that practices the EU's regulations in Turkey. On the other hand, Sahin Alpay asserted that the master's programme should attempt to change the mainstream point of view that ignores Turkey's cultural and historical diversity. In agreement with this Volkan Aytar said that this programme is created with the intention to support the formation of a more harmonized, tolerant and respectful environment that accepts Turkey and its multiculturalism. He also stressed that Turkey will have an important role in Europe's future; and the master's programme should simultaneously discuss the issues at stake in Europe.
Subsequently, Haluk Gürgen underlined the role of the TRT within the formation of a more harmonized and tolerant environment and Ali Gemuhluoglu informed the group of TRT's plans. He stated that the TRT entered into an agreement with the Armenian Television and plans to create joint music and cooking programmes in the future. Through these programmes the two cultures will be able to observe the proximity and similarities between eachother. Gemuhluoglu also stated that the TRT plans to start multilingual broadcasting next year to support the diverse cultural character of Turkey. However, he also complained that the TRT cannot find an appropriate platform to announce these actions and everybody agreed that the European Media and Cultural Studies Master's Programme will be a good platform from which to publicize and discuss these issues.
As a result, all of the participants are well informed about our project and the discussions in the workshop were exceptionally helpful in allowing the project team to comprehend the governmental and professional aspect of the issues related to the main concerns of the master's programme. Thus, the workshop ended in agreement about the necessity of organizing further joint activities involving governmental institutions, media corporations, and Bahçesehir Univeristy.
|
