'Are there any journalists out there?' Hürriyet editor-in-chief asks over Soma disaster
Enis Berberoğlu ISTANBUL
General view of a coal mine site where a fire broke out on Tuesday in Soma, a district in Turkey's western province of Manisa May 18. REUTERS Photo
Dear colleagues at Sabah newspaper,Are you there?
I will not say much.
Are you also surprised at the first page of your newspaper?
Is the incident in the Soma supermarket more important than the disaster in Soma?
Strange, what fury, what rage…
They say the Doğan Group, particularly daily Hürriyet, is fabricating news.
Along with reason and conscience, do not ridicule our intelligence.
Millions have watched what happened there in the video recordings.
They formed an opinion about it.
They saw the scuffle. They listened to the worker who was beaten.
They witnessed the disproportionate violence of the prime minister’s guards.
And, what did Hürriyet do?
It chose the headline “That moment in the market.”
It covered the remarks of the young man who claimed he was beaten and the Prime Ministry’s statement that “there was no physical intervention, but only disorder” on its front page, in a stance respecting national mourning…
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My dear colleagues at Sabah…
Let’s consider that these were all montage dubbing...
Even a plot, or moreover, a parallel conspiracy...
You still owe Turkey answers to the question:
What happened in the shop in Soma?
How was this disorder started in the shop?
Who was the one heard shouting “Come over here; don’t run away” in the camera footage?
Why was the young man on the floor in front of the ice-cream refrigerator?
Were the people kicking and slapping him police officers?
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My dear colleagues at Sabah…
Leave aside dealing with what others are saying and writing.
You tell us what actually happened in the shop in Soma.
But tell it with proof, witnesses and footage…
I cannot see any of these things in your story from yesterday.
I guess your problem and business is not about news.
You want to pit the prime minister against us, even in such an atmosphere of mourning.
Let me say it clearly: You won’t succeed, we won’t play this game.
Because the prime minister is not only yours; he is the prime minister of us all. Why would we get into a fight?
A real journalist does not become anyone’s enemy, bear grudges or slander.
So, if you have no truth to write, at least keep silent.
Besides, do not think journalism will end just because you keep quiet.
My problem is allowing you to continue to do journalism
But that is to say, neither my distress, nor your journalism shall end.
By the way, are there any journalists out there?