BIA, Turkey
Nov 4 2006
Independent Media Forum Starts
The Istanbul "International Independent Media Forum" has been
introduced to participants and observers at a meeting held at Hill
Hotel. Savio, Casagrande, Ferguson, Iskandaryan, Alankus, Kurkcu,
Mater, Sinar, Jaura and many others attend press conference.
BIA News Center
03/11/2006 Ayca ORER
BÝA (Istanbul) – The Istanbul "International Independent Media
Forum", bringing together activists, specialists, workers, students,
analysts and initiatives striving for an independent and democratic
communication environment from across the world and Turkey, has been
introduced to participants and observers on Friday in a press
conference and meeting held at the city’s Taksim Hill hotel.
Making the opening speech of the 3-day event held under the framework
of the "Establishing a Countrywide Network for Monitoring and
Covering for Media Freedom and Independent Journalism"-BÝA² project,
bianet Project Coordinator Ertugrul Kurkcu said the goal of the forum
was to debate how media workers could guard the interests of the
society while conducting their work.
Kurkcu said the forum taking place at the Bilgi University Dolapdere
Campus between November 4-5 had been organized jointly by the IPS
Communication Foundation and the Inter Press Service.
The central theme of the forum is "Another world is possible" with
participants discussing a variety of media related issues with
special emphasis on alternative media.
Kurkcu told Friday’s introduction meeting that among the forum
discussions, social gender and media would be looking at the
wide-spread discrimination against women in media while a debate on
peace and independent media would hear experiences of news coverage
discouraging conflicts. Developments in Iraq and Beirut are among the
issues to be looked into, alongside the role of the local media in
Turkey which is expected to increase in the coming years, Kurkcu
explained.
The forum will look into many issues concerning the media from
examples of efforts to create an independent, alternative, media to
creating a more open, democratic, transparent and accessible media
through civic journalism. Ways to create global, regional and local
alternative networks is also among the discussion topics.
A total of 90 participants from various countries and Turkey are
attending the event. Organizers have said 58 of the participants are
men, 32 women. 71 come from Turkey while 19 are from other countries.
Participants are made up of 16 academics, 49 journalists from the
Turkish local media, 15 professional journalists, 2 NGO
representatives and 5 students.
World issues to be discussed
Speaking at Friday’s meeting that was held before a scheduled evening
reception that formally launches the forum, a number of participants
addressed current issues facing the media.
Savio: Lack of explicating journalism
Internationally renowned expert in communications issues and IPS
Executive Board Chair Dr. Roberto Savio told the audience that there
were two reasons that influenced the independence of the media. The
first, he explained, was the threat from economic circles while the
second was the gap between the mainstream and local media.
Savio, who founded numerous news and information projects, always
with an emphasis on the developing world: Inter Press Service (IPS)
news agency, the Latin American features service ALASEI and the
Women’s Feature Service, also referred to the world-wide increase in
intern users while newspaper sales figures declined. He stressed that
there was a changing readership.
Savio said that at current reporting was primarily limited to
observing incidents without explicating them, adding that what
journalists needed to ask themselves was "can the journalism we are
doing now last for a long time?"
Sinar: War shouldn’t be reduced to figures
Dov Sinar of the Netanya Academic College said for his part that 20
to 25 yers ago it was believed that alternative media was required
only for totalitarian regimes but that over time democratic regimes
had also started to need an alternative media.
Underlining that the media had to be extremely careful in relaying
events, Sinar said the question of "what happens in war or peace
conditions" should never be forgotten.
Sinar said that in the occupations of Iraq and Gazza, humans were
being reduced to being figures only and that this situation further
emphasized the importance of the alternative media.
Ferguson: Biggest enemy is money
Robert Ferguson of London University told the meetings that after the
collapse of the Soviet Repubic it could be observed that the problem
previously described as being totalitarian regimes was in fact a
problem of money for the media.
"When the big enemy went" he explained, "the economic relations of
the media surfaced." Furguson said there were still newspapers in
Britain that were distributed for free and noted that it had to be
understood under which conditions these newspapers served.
Alankus: Alternative media debate world-wide
East Mediterranean University lecturer Dr. Sevda Alankus, told the
meeting that next week they would be holding a peace journalism
meeting in North Cyprus were participants from both sides of the
divided island would be discussing peace.
Alankus noted that alternative media was now being debated throughout
the world and described alternative media as a necessity.
Rights Reporting Awards to be Granted
Following the opening ceremony of the forum, "BIA2 Rights Reporting
Awards" dedicated to a journalist from the mainstream media and local
media will be granted alongside an award to communication students.
The awards will go to Yuksekova Haber newspaper reporter Necip Capraz
from the local media; Radikal newspaper reporter Timur Soykan from
the mainstream media and students Aycin Gelir and Eylem Tuna from the
Anadolu Universty Communication Facility.
About the forum
The Forum is to be launched by speeches delivered by Le Monde
Diplomatique newspaper editor-in-chief Ignacio Ramonet’nin and IPS
General Director Mario Lubetkin’in .
The first day, Saturday, sees two panels taking place in the Forum:
"New Global Mainstream Media Environment Limits and Challenges" and
"Independent Media Environment and Prospects for non-Mainstream".
A panel on the second day, meanwhile, focuses on communication
education: "Education for Communication: Critical or Mainstream?".
Two important group discussions will take part on the second day of
the forum. "Social Gender and Independent Media" moderated by
journalist and writer Ipek Calislar is to bring together women rights
activist and journalist Angella Castellanos from Colombia, bianet’s
Nadire Mater, Kaos GL’s Ugur Yuksel, Media Monitoring Group’s Dr.
Hulya Ugur Tanriover, Pazartesi magazine’s Beyhan Demir and Ucan
Supurge’s Oya Ozden Saner.
Later, the "Independent Media for Peace" discussion moderated by
Birgun newspaper editor-in-chief Murat Celikkkan is to bring together
Alexander Iskendaryan from the Armenian Caucasus Media Institute,
Acik Radio’s Avi Haligua, bianet’s Erol Onderoglu, Yucel Gokturk,
Merve Erol, Erdir Zat and Siren Idemen from Express, Cyprus Turkish
Union of Press Workers’ Huseyin Yalyali, Georgia Social Researches
Center’s Marina Muskhelishvili, Azerbaijan Zerkalo newspaper’s Murad
Huseynov, Agos’s Nuran Agan, Israel Peace Journalism Center’s Prof.
Dr. Dov Sinar, Rustem Batum, Sevgul Uludag and Cyprus East
Mediterranean University’s Tony Angastiniotis.
Local, independent media and civic journalism in Turkey
One of the important events on November 5 is the "Civic, Local and
Alternative Media in Turkey" forum which will bring together
academics and local journalists.
Moderated by journalist Ragip Duran, the forum will start with Dr.
Sevda Alankus’s question "Do the local media and civic media give
opportunities for a pluralism and independence?"
While Dr. Incilay Cangoz discussed local and independent media in the
context of "civic journalism" Coskun Efendioglu from the Milas Onder
newspaper will raise questions on how the media could be local and
independent.
Manavgat Venus Radio’s Dogan Sonmez will look at the issue
approaching journalists as the "human capitals of independence" while
Diyarbakir Gun TV’s Cemal Dogan will share his experiences on news
reporting and broadcasting in a mother-tongue. Mehmet Can Toprak from
the Mersin Radio Ses and Izmir Demokrat Radio’s Nadiye Gurbuz will
explain "local radio broadcasting in metropolitan cities".
The goals
The International Independent Media Forum which is open to everyone
has set the following goals:
· Bring together activists, specialists, workers and analysts from
across the globe, who strives for "another media".
· Share experiences in bringing out independent media and analyze
significant practices.
· Help develop more open, democratic, transparent and accessible
media environments.
· Provide and contribute in cooperation among global, regional and
local alternative media networks.
· Encourage individuals and institutions to support independent media
initiatives
· Increase the quality and quantity of independent media practices in
Turkey (AO/EO/II/YE)
–Boundary_(ID_c3Mj72uWHYQVDs7z9lZZ IA)–