At the meeting held at AAtölye, issues such as the portrayal of women's identity in the media and violence against women were discussed.
RTÜK President Ebubekir Şahin said that the outputs of the meeting organized jointly by RTÜK and AA are very important for them.
Şahin said, “I think Anadolu Ajansı is Türkiye's news factory. Before the news comes out of the news factory, it already goes through a lot of ethical principles, a lot of values, and a lot of ways.”Şahin said that in the following period, they will visit media organizations and explain the mistakes made and RTÜK's expectations one-on-one.
Stating that “the decision on broadcast bans is made by the relevant court” and that RTÜK only announces this ban, Şahin said, “I have been the president for 6 years, and every time I have announced a broadcast ban for 6 years, I say, ‘I announce this decision of this court’. But they say, 'The RTÜK President is imposing yet another ban.' In other words, they don't care, or they want to see it that way.”
Highlighting that they will visit media organizations to explain how these processes work and how they are implemented, Şahin said, “I think it is an important revolution.”
“An institutional identity needs to be established”
AA Academy and Editorial Coordinator Yahya Bostan pointed out that the commodification of women and the use of news language that fuels violence against women are interrelated processes.
Bostan highlighted that it is very important to explain violence against women and the way women are portrayed in the media in the right way and said, “An institutional culture needs to be created here. Without the establishment of an institutional culture, you can close any hole you want, but that water will leak from somewhere. It is difficult to prevent this. Therefore, I think RTÜK will undertake a very important task here in the construction of institutional culture.”
Bostan said that there is a relatively more controlled system in conventional media, but a separate window should be created for the dimension of violence against women on social media.
Highlighting that social media is more out of control in this regard, Bostan said, “I think, from now on, social media is the most important issue we need to focus on.”
Presentation on “Violence against Women in the Media”
Following the speeches, RTÜK Member Deniz Güçer made a presentation on “Violence against Women in the Media”.
In her presentation, Güçer included 8 topics that RTÜK has drawn attention to: “Show the perpetrator, not the victim”, “do not legitimize violence”, “criminal, not respectable”, “support the cause”, “set an example for the children”, “tell about strong women, empower the women”, “publish the punishment, show the justice”, “get support, give support”.
Sharing the positive and negative practices applied in the media under each heading, Güçer said that no distinction was made between channels and institutions when these examples were taken.
The section of the program titled “Ethical Principles Consultation Meeting” was held in a closed session.AA Board Member Büşra Tosun Durmuş, AA Deputy Director Generals Yusuf Özhan and Oğuz Enis Peru, RTÜK Vice President Deniz Güler, and AA and RTÜK employees attended the program.