Q – What do you identify as the responsibility of a professional journalist?
A – I believe it is the responsibility of a professional journalist to practice his or her job in accordance with their conscience and to be responsible for that conscience.
Not only the delivery of news to the people, but also the independence of the news carried, that is, the news should not be reported in a unilateral and unjust manner. I think it’s important for many people in the media profession today to do research on their profession and learn more about it.
Slavering for someone is not media professionalism. To understand that, you need to study exactly what this profession is.
Q – A journalist has to fulfill that responsibility amidst many political and capitalist influences. What suggestions do you have for dealing with that situation?
A – It’s really hard work. I know that the media owner or someone in that office who is ready to fulfill his need is the one who filters the news brought by the journalist and puts it as per his needs.
Journalists need to have a backbone that can protect their identity under any circumstances. If they strengthen their backs, the profession will be able to do more justice. I know, it’s all about money.
As a result, not everyone will be able to make a decision to resign. Despite such limitations, there are those who make such decisions. It depends on the differences. However, I think that one day he should make every effort to be a responsible person and a journalist who is responsible for his conscience.
You have to build the strength to speak up for your news. At least if you can stand up for it without changing it, I mean you have to be a journalist who can stand up for yourself. Because if they do not, they have to deal with their conscience.
If journalists start to represent themselves in that way, the right of the people to know more information will be protected in the future. In a situation like this, even the media owner or other political forces have to think twice before changing a news story or changing the way it is presented.
That, I think, is the first thing professional journalists should do for their responsibility. If that journey starts going well, the owners will have to step back in front of the personality of journalists.
Q – As social media continues to expand, do people still expect information from the mainstream media as they did some time ago?
A – I hope so. One is that people still believe in the media. There is no such belief about social media. The other is that everywhere, the majority of the country still does not have internet and social media facilities. The village still has the newspaper, the TV is the most important.
I don’t think newspapers will ever disappear. Even in countries with more internet facilities than us newspapers have not been lost yet. But the flow of news is increasing. The number of news channels is increasing day by day. At the same time, the media owners and the influential parties mentioned earlier are less likely to lie. That’s important.
Q – What are your suggestions for improving media quality as an industry?
A – Media should be kept away from narrow-minded political forces. Anyone can do politics. But the media, that is, the right of the people to information, has no right to be influenced. Media owners can have links with politicians. They may have other businesses.
They may use their own media to run those businesses. This situation needs to be changed. The only thing is, journalists need to start doing their job with a backbone. If they go and do whatever they say, then there is no point in talking about it.
The journey of a good media begins when journalists are freed from that feeling of slavery, when they make at least one attempt to be free or abandon it.
