Aydın Doğan urges employees to be ‘transparent’ on social media

ISTANBUL

Aydın Doğan, founder and honorary chairman of Doğan Holding, has warned the group’s employees to be ‘transparent’ when they are using social media.

Aydın Doğan, founder and honorary chairman of Doğan Holding, has warned the group’s employees they should follow the “publishing principles” of Doğan Media Group when using social media.

“Despite the rules set in the ‘publishing principles,’ I’m sad to see some of our employees share issues they cannot write in their papers, cannot say or show on their television channels and social media networks by using their corporate identities,” Doğan said Jan. 31 in a written statement. “It is not possible to allow such acts that damage the identity and dignity of our print and visual media.”

The “publishing principles” of Doğan Media Group were updated for the first time in 13 years in December, 2011.

The new principles are split into two, for both written and visual broadcasters. The written press principles cover 34 articles, from basic journalism ethics, to the employees’ usage of social media.

“Newspaper and magazine staff must not ignore their professional and institutional identities in social media, and they must stand aside from behavior that could undermine or shadow the institution’s reputation and dignity. They should not make statements on behalf of their institutions unless they are authorized, and they should not share information about the inner workings of their institution,” the new 24th article reads.

The 26th article forbids creating fake social media accounts for Doğan staff, while the 27th article forbids information, photograph or content sharing on social media before it is published.

“It is only natural that our employees, both in the visual and print media, use their individual freedoms in the widest way possible,” Doğan said in his written statement. “However, it is unacceptable to ignore the corporate identities when using social media and act in violation of the ‘publishing principles’ that are binding for everyone,” he added.

Doğan also recalled the principles ban employees from using fake accounts, urging them to be transparent on social media and clearly state their positions in the media.

“The principles also state all our employees are obliged to fact check the links they share, the messages they forward or the tweets to which they reply, and to make a correction with a message if the information turns out to be wrong” Doğan added.