Hürriyet ‘to stay on the side of straight reporting’
ISTANBUL
DAILY NEWS photo
Daily Hürriyet has issued a reply to recent accusations against the newspaper and the Doğan Media Group in the form of an editorial addressed to its readers, published Feb 7The editorial reads as follows:
“Turkey has been experiencing a deep crisis, polarization and political conflict, particularly since Dec. 17. Every day claims about ‘corruption’ on the one hand and about a ‘parallel structure’ on the other are brought to the country’s agenda.
“As Hürriyet, we are neither a partisan in this war, nor the advocate.
“Our job is journalism, and we are only on the side of straight reporting.
“We present the news that we can, as far as possible, confirm, and obtain trustworthy documents with regard to the public’s right to information.
“When we publish stories, we show the utmost care not to violate the presumption of innocence of individuals. Our only goal is to help the public learn the truths.
“We are observing that certain publications in a certain part of the media are trying to put us on one side and disperse the pressure by launching a virtual media war, in order to draw attention elsewhere. This has now reached the dimensions of libel.
“The newspaper in particular, surrounded with claims and suspicions over its ownership - such as the ‘collection of money within a pool’ – has become the focus of the campaign against the Doğan Media Group, which is open and accountable to the public, and against our Honorary Chairman Aydın Doğan.
“There is no country in the world that allows the publications of a group that fails to be transparent regarding the source of its capital.
“The only answer that we can give them is the following:
“We will continue to conduct journalism according to universal standards, as far as we can. Mind your own business and disperse the curtain of suspicion in an honest and upright way.”