Scrap Turkey’s press card rules altogether
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Oluşturulma Tarihi: Kasım 18, 2008 00:00
Turkey’s press accreditation process belongs to another age, to a mindset of state control. It needs to be brought into compliance with the norms of the European Union and other democracies. This is the larger reality overlooked in the current controversy over accreditation to the Prime Ministry.
Yes, it was a shameful international embarrassment when the Prime Minister’s press minders cancelled the passes of seven reporters who asked tough questions. Yes, the crime against press freedom was compounded when the ruling party loyalist Mehmet Gürhan, recently convicted of fraud, was issued credentials. And yes, the process became an absurdity when it was revealed five reporters from state television, all of whom had transferred from pro-government media, were issued spanking new Prime Ministry press badges. But a larger issue awaits redress. This is that Turkey does not really have a system of press accreditation. It has a system of press licensing that smacks of rules England banned in the 17th century or which Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe employs today.
It is appropriate for the state to license certain professions; physicians should be competent in their fields, engineers need to have up-to-date knowledge and lawyers need to prove they are qualified. Ensuring this, is a legitimate right of the state. But the definition of a journalist, belongs to news institutions.
In democracies, one gets a press card when a newspaper, television station or radio outlet hires you. You are entitled to cover America’s White House or Brussel’s European Commission when the institution writes a letter on your behalf saying this is what you are employed to do. A security check may ensue, no objection from us. But otherwise, that is the system.
In Turkey, the coveted "yellow press card" comes after working a minimum of one year as a journalist for an established media institution, under the press law. To work in Parliament or in the ministries, prime or sub-prime, one generally has to have held this initial card for at least a couple of years. In short, Turkish journalists navigate a five-year bureaucratic labyrinth at a minimum for what in most capitals takes five or 10 minutes.
The "yellow card" no longer affords the privileges it once did, including discount air travel and a subsidized telephone service. But it still conveys entitlements such as free parking, free entry to museums and football games, and the likelihood of more friendly treatment by police at a traffic stop. This is the real appeal of the card. Which is why a survey would certainly reveal a majority of those holding press cards in Turkey do not work as journalists and a majority of working journalists do not have press cards.
Such a system is a blight on democracy. It is also an embarrassment to our profession.
It is appropriate for the state to license certain professions; physicians should be competent in their fields, engineers need to have up-to-date knowledge and lawyers need to prove they are qualified. Ensuring this, is a legitimate right of the state. But the definition of a journalist, belongs to news institutions.
In democracies, one gets a press card when a newspaper, television station or radio outlet hires you. You are entitled to cover America’s White House or Brussel’s European Commission when the institution writes a letter on your behalf saying this is what you are employed to do. A security check may ensue, no objection from us. But otherwise, that is the system.
In Turkey, the coveted "yellow press card" comes after working a minimum of one year as a journalist for an established media institution, under the press law. To work in Parliament or in the ministries, prime or sub-prime, one generally has to have held this initial card for at least a couple of years. In short, Turkish journalists navigate a five-year bureaucratic labyrinth at a minimum for what in most capitals takes five or 10 minutes.
The "yellow card" no longer affords the privileges it once did, including discount air travel and a subsidized telephone service. But it still conveys entitlements such as free parking, free entry to museums and football games, and the likelihood of more friendly treatment by police at a traffic stop. This is the real appeal of the card. Which is why a survey would certainly reveal a majority of those holding press cards in Turkey do not work as journalists and a majority of working journalists do not have press cards.
Such a system is a blight on democracy. It is also an embarrassment to our profession.