Financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Association of Journalists “Media for Democracy/Democracy for Media” programme hosted Işık Kansu at the Press House for his talk “The Function of a Journalist”.
Financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Association of Journalists “Media for Democracy/Democracy for Media” (M4D) continues to host its journalists’ meetings at the Press House. The first guest of September has been senior journalist Işık Kansu who pointed out that there are still honest journalists and “we shouldn’t lose hope”.
Prior to Kansu’s speech, Association of Journalists Chairman Nazmi Bilgin talked about how he met Kansu during his first years in the profession and how their friendship has lasted over the years “Işık Kansu was one of my first friends in the profession, it’s been an honour. We were working in different newspapers at the time which had different political views. Those days reporters chased news stories, by that I mean they did their jobs. They formed friendships over news, there was no such thing as being enemies. One of the most important reasons behind my friendship with Kansu is our firm stance in not compromising on the profession’s ethics and principles. Journalism is not only a profession, it is a lifestyle.”
M4D Assistant Director Seva Ülmen Erten who provided the audience with information about upcoming events in September in her opening speech also gave biographical information about Kansu “Journalist and author Işık Kansu started his career at the young age of 19 while studying at Ankara University, Faculty of Political Science and worked for Ekspres Newspaper on Rüzgarlı Street. Then, Kansu began working for Cumhuriyet Newspaper where he excelled from reporter to chief clerk of the Ankara office. Kansu, who authored “Ayrıntının İzdüşümü” (The Projection of Detail), also carried out three researches, a documentary, a narrative interview and a musical. Kansu has been awarded 5 different awards for his work and continues to carry the torch of honest and ethical journalism.” Erten also reminded the audience that Kansu is the son of the late poet Ceyhun Atıf Kansu.
“Turkish media changed with globalization”
Kansu began his talk by thanking the Association of Journalists and provided the audience with information about the topics his latest book “Yurt Kemiriciler” touched upon. According to Kansu, the Turkish media transformed with globalization and it was during this transition that media ownership relations evolved. He said “In my latest book I focused on the transformation of the media following the September 12th military coup. September 12th occurred parallel to a transformation in the rest of the world. The term “globalization” defines an era where large monopolies and big international corporations grew. The official ideology of globalization expresses the end of the nation state and for the public to make use of what globalization has to offer. The media’s transformation in Turkey was parallel to this.”
Kansu elaborated on the situation before and after September 12th by providing examples “Before September 12th newspaper owners were people who came from journalistic families. On a national level, families with backgrounds in journalism such as Simavi, Karacan and Nadir owned media companies. The new world order transformed the media in Turkey, as it did in the rest of the world. Newspapers were taken over by corporate bosses, and media bosses with backgrounds in journalism were outcasted. So, what happened? The stance of newspapers and journalists shifted. Media conglomerates started entering bids on energy tenders due to the change of a law that had prohibited media conglomerates from forming enterprises and partnerships by the Radio and Television Supreme Council. Energy distribution companies were being privatized at the time, and media companies wanted their share in this. That’s exactly what happened.”
Kansu remarked that Journalists Abdi İpekçi and Uğur Mumcu, who had been murdered while practising their professions, should be given a special place in history and criticized those who believed journalists should find new role-models “They presented us with so-called journalists as role models. But, those who first and foremost trivialized the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and important figures in journalism, could not be considered as role-models.”
“Only in a free environment can these problems be overcome”
In concluding his talk, Kansu made the following remarks about overcoming the problems the press is facing “Those who were in the profession years ago appreciated the value pf the SEKA Factory, and now that it has been sold to the owner of Yeni Şafak newspaper, everyone has felt the effects of the paper crisis. Costs are rising as the dollar goes up, I have no idea how the media is going to survive this, it seems unlikely. Because only in a free environment can these problems be overcome. First of all, you need a democratic system. You need to re-establish democracy and freedom of the press. I’m not being pessimistic, if you succumb to pessimism you become foolish. We have to be smart and choose our path accordingly to continue our struggle.”
