What is the duty of Turkish and Greek journalists during the crisis?

What is the duty of Turkish and Greek journalists during the crisis?

No matter which channel you watch in Greece or Turkey in recent weeks, the issue is the tension between the two countries… “Will there be a war between Greece and Turkey?”, “Where is the crisis between Greece and Turkey going?”… Journalists and Especially as reporters, we understand our role in this critical and dangerous time when we need calm and composure. Because not only politicians who manage the crisis, but also journalists should be calm and careful. With a mistake, a hot event that no one wants can happen.

The question we seek the answer to in this crisis between Turkey and Greece is “Who is right?” rather than “how the media and journalists handle events”. In recent years, we have had endless meetings between Turkish and Greek journalists trying to find answers to these questions. But now it’s test time. We have to put into practice everything we have written on paper in recent years. Unfortunately, there are Greek and Turkish journalists who try to present the news in all its dimensions and objectively, and there are also those who work in the opposite direction.

There are those who exaggerate the events in order to increase the number of reads / views of the news or to increase the noise. Every day, we see an increasing number of pro-war publications. Before a news about the events is published in the Turkish press, it is translated and published in the Greek media in a short time. Google translate often replaces our journalistic role. Sometimes he even cancels our role. This is very dangerous… Because it is very easy to make mistakes if someone trusts Google translate.

In crises like today; Experienced, reliable, serious journalists should come to the fore. Broadcasting by those who seek more tension when the climate is tense is a major obstacle to calming things down. In fact, ambitious journalists who are only interested in how to promote themselves in such crises are also involved.

Websites that are often frivolous end up taking on a role that only causes confusion. They even run an unreliable broadcasting using a lot of fake news that is not verified using the news they get from social media. Misleading videos and images that have nothing to do with reality are published as news. And all this actually affects journalism itself and journalists.

In conclusion, as Turkish and Greek journalists who believe in the friendship of the two peoples, we should not waste our efforts over the years. Now is the time to turn theory into practice. I am not suggesting to hide the facts or present a virtual reality. On the contrary, I suggest being serious about conveying the facts as they are, without exaggeration. In fact, when we look at it, isn’t that our only task?

Anna Andreou

Greek journalist