WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, YDÜ?
(Publication date: November 13, 2006)
Make a note of
today’s date! Today, the media sector of the TRNC is encountering an entirely different approach. Today the “YDÜ Faculty of Communication Complex” is officially opening. May it bring good fortune and success...
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The other day, I attended the anniversary cocktail reception for Kanal T. I saw the excitement of the first day in the faces of Kanal T’s employees. It felt less like an anniversary celebration and more like an opening celebration. I congratulate them and wish that this excitement will never be absent from their broadcasting life, and that their success will continue.
Likewise, only a few days ago, the birthday of our country’s first private radio station was celebrated: First Fm, our country’s first pride and joy! Once again, let us express our gratitude to First Fm’s employees and, of course, its managers, for their contributions to our country’s media sector over the years.
I have followed Radio Güven closely from the day it first opened to the present. It is an institution standing tall, as if answering the question, “What does a radio station that meets world standards look like?”
When ART first opened, it quickly showed us how seriously it took television broadcasting, as well as making a major investment. And it continues to broadcast with the same seriousness today.
Are these the only organizations serving our country’s media sector? Of course not!
In the same way, Akdeniz Radyo/Tv, Kıbrıs Radyo/Tv, BRT, Dance Fm, Radyo Mayıs and Sim Radyo—all of our radio and television stations—have made undeniable contributions to our country’s media sector.
In addition, our newspapers, which we could call the cornerstone of the media sector, do wonderful work in support of society’s freedom to receive information. Alongside Vatan Newspaper, which you are holding in your hands right now, Kıbrıs Newspaper, Yenidüzen, Halkın Sesi, Afrika and all the other print media make superhuman efforts to be at your newsstand in the morning, despite extremely difficult conditions.
How fortunate we are that, despite the difficult conditions in our country, we have employees and managers who are devoted to this work and who keep the media sector going—or try to.
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For the dedication of those trying to keep the media sector afloat under all these conditions, should we say, “What’s it to us? It’s the private sector; it’s business”?
All right! Let’s think that way for a moment and consider the consequences of this approach: if the private sector cannot survive in the field of communications, your freedom to receive information will become one-dimensional. You will be deprived of commentary that approaches issues from different perspectives. The problems you constantly complain about will be known to no one but you, and you will find it difficult to make them heard. And, on top of all that, there will be unemployment.
In other words, taking a “what’s it to us?” attitude on this issue means being indifferent to a matter that is, in fact, your own concern.
But does our country’s media sector have no faults or shortcomings? Of course it does!
Since we are putting everything out in the open, let’s talk about those too.
We still have organizations that continue broadcasting through “organic political ties.” We also have members of the press who, through those same ties, have become politicians’ weapons and engage in “journalist-ism.”
It is very difficult to find an independent organization like your newspaper, Vatan.
Who do you think benefits from this? Yes, as you said: politicians. Isn’t this why we still do not have a proper press law? Isn’t this why we have media organizations and journalists who cannot publish independently because of economic hardship?
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My readers who follow my columns will know that I do not like criticism that is offered without solutions. My suggestion on this issue is this: as you know, the most important factor keeping media organizations afloat is advertising. For a limited period—until our media organizations achieve economic independence and reach world standards—advertisers should be allowed to deduct these amounts from their annual taxes. Advertising placed with media organizations should be tax-exempt. Or other solutions should be developed. Why? The answer is below...
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Now, let’s get to the title of my column...
I’ll answer the question in the title: YDÜ has raised the bar.
YDÜ has brought a breath of fresh air to a sector with so many problems, and we will only understand how important this is in the coming months and years. Because the young people studying with those magnificent facilities will soon begin working at our country’s media organizations. Can you imagine the situation they will encounter? How indifferent will our existing organizations be to the world-standard facilities now available in our country at the YDÜ Faculty of Communication Complex? That is precisely why I made the suggestion above. The TRNC media must now meet world standards and achieve economic freedom independent of politicians. From here on, all that remains for us is to watch developments.
So, you’d better make a note of today’s date.
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