Comments on: All-in journalism package

By: miriam

miriam — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:27:29 +0000

For Theoldtturk I would like to add that even in a deeply divided society, people from outside may be able to keep an independent view. You may confuse this with someone’s generic political stand and cultural background – where I know Frederike’s to never having been rightwing nor narrowminded and very interested in all kinds of people, not just the people in power.
It’s an interesting exercise to separate disagreeing with someone from labelling the other person being totally biased.

By: miriam

miriam — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:18:17 +0000

Journalism is indeed something that is different in every country, in every culture. I’ll give a few examples.

To start nearby, the Dutch do not have a culture of reverence and respect for the elderly like most indigenous peoples do. That makes my view on events in South Africa (where I live) entirely different from a local journo’s, even if that person might have a professional background that is similar to mine.

In the culture of the USA it is very important that politicians lead a squeaky clean personal life. The French could not care less, they are just interested in good statesmanship. Mitterrand’s extramarital daughter was interesting, but only on a personal gossip level and her existence did not influence his political position.

Why was that so different with Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Because he led an *international* powerhouse and he knew he was better off leaving straight away, cutting clean, than to taint his political chances for the future. The sexual assault in itself was not huge news in France, but the consequences were.

International reporting is influenced by many things. But there is a reason that most news houses rotate their correspondents every few years: because once they start blending in, they lose the viewpoint that corresponds with their audience’s.

By: Fréderike Geerdink

Fréderike Geerdink — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:04:30 +0000

Theoldtturk, I definitely don’t see anybody as the enemy, that’s really total crap. That’s not how I am, I don’t think in terms of ‘enemy’. On twitter, I retweet when I’m not sure about news in stead of stating it myself, or I add who says or claims something. I try to tweet as careful as possible, but twitter is fast and it is impossible to check check doublecheck everything you tweet or retweet, like you do when it’s an article or background story. That’s why i often add ‘apparently’, ‘it seems’, or ‘tweets this and that person’, etc. I don’t always catch up on everything, true, but hey, would you please realize I am only just one person?

By: Theoldtturk

Theoldtturk — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:37:45 +0000

Nobody is objective, but readers have right to expect unbiased pieces from “their favourite correspondent”.

Let me illustrate a few instances which I found biased in your case. First, there was a chemical weapon usage claim by pro pkk sources. You immediately used this at your twitter account. After a while Turkish forensic authorities didn’t find any chemical weapon traces. As far as I know you didn’t mention this any of your news platform. Looking pkk doesn’t bring this up again, it’s obvious this is a wrong claim and you have to be careful with using those sources again.

Second, using your pro pkk sources you claimed there was heavy fighting somewhere in east turkey. “our favourite journalist” used this again at twitter. After a while she hedged though after realizing this was just a rumour by pro pkk gang.

I wouldn’t say this is objective or not, but one thing is clear to me that you are becoming one of us. That means you are taking one of the multiple sides of the Turkish society. And you see the other sides as enemy. And that makes you biased if not subjective.

By: Cagil

Cagil — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:06:19 +0000

Very interesting post. I’m glad that this was brought up by a foreign journalist working in Turkey, a country where the practice of journalism remains pretty vague in terms of definition.
While the Turkish public opinion is getting shaped by the Turkish Press standards/rules I believe it’s necessary to follow foreign journalists, and capture their colour/view.
However, the difference in terms of practice also makes me wonder whether Journalistic norms are universal or culturally relative. Is there a common universal language in journalism? Or, do we intend to fit all into our own baskets?

By: Tweets that mention All-in journalism package | Journalist in Turkey, background articles, news and weblog about Turkey and Istanbul -- Topsy.com

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:13:00 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Frederike Geerdink, Cagil M. Kasapoglu. Cagil M. Kasapoglu said: Interesting post on Journalism by @fgeerdink: http://is.gd/5szdc I wonder: Are journalistic norms universal or culturally relative? [...]