Ethical Values in Media was debated at the seminar organized via the CIU-CTJU cooperation

At the seminar that was organized within the scope of the collaboration signed between the Cyprus International University (CIU) Faculty of Communication and Cyprus Turkish Journalists Union (CTJU), media ethics within Turkish Cypriot news was examined from the past till the present.

Speaking at the opening of the event, CIU Faculty of Communications Dean Prof. Dr. Hikmet Seçim stated that they have organized the first of the educational seminars that are to be organized with CTJU, and thanked the CTJU Foreign Relations Secretary Özgül Gürkut Mutluyakalı and CTJU Financial Affairs Secretary Osman Kurt, for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

During the opening, the CTJU President Emin Akkor stated that as the union, they want to establish better relationships with the young communicators, and that their aim is to get the young communicators used to the sector.

CTJU Foreign Affairs Secretary and Turkish Agency Cyprus (TAC) news supervisor Mutluyakalı, beginning her speech with the definitions of basic concepts, went on to provide information in relation to journalists and their responsibilities, news and truth writing, and ethical principles within the media.

Explaining that with the increase of online journalism, the spreading of fake news has also increased, Mutluyakalı went on to say, “To confirm what they have read, it is important that the public resort to mechanisms”.

Mutluyakalı noted that today, a number of news is now being presented in the magazine format, and elaborated, “As news reporting has got further away from the truth and simplicity, occupational ethical values have gained even more importance”.

Speaking in relation to the works that have been initiated due to the concerns within the Turkish Cypriot media, Mutluyakalı advised that the Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities of the Journalist was approved at the CTJU General Assembly in June 2000, establishing the Media Ethics Committee.

Mutluyakalı provided examples of the common ethical problems that are experienced in news reports, and continued, “Our most common problems can be listed as non-compliance with the report of innocence, printing the images and names within accident news, news reporting without the redaction of police bulletins, ignoring the rights of patients and children, and using hate speech”.