Doğan committee engages in self-criticism over publications, programs

ISTANBUL

Doğan Media Group’s Publishing Principles Committee, a board that supervises media ethics in all Doğan Holding-linked media outlets, held an extraordinary meeting on April 1 to evaluate publications and broadcasts regarding the killing of Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz at his Istanbul office on March 31.

 “The publishing principles of the Doğan Media Group are clear and open,” a statement after the meeting read, noting that the independent committee inspects the implementation of these principles. The latest meeting was urgently convened.

According to the results, a tweet by Mirgün Cabas, a program broadcaster of CNN Türk, was found to be against the principles, and called on him “to correct his mistake.”

The publication strategy of Hürriyet, the leading newspaper of the group, was approved by the committee, as it lamented terrorism in its headline and avoided using a cover page photo that could unintentionally propagate terrorism. However, it criticized an inside-page photo displaying the symbols of the outlawed organization.

“It was wrong in terms of the Publishing Principles that the daily Posta used a photo displaying the symbols of the terror organization, while saying Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz fell as a martyr on its first page,” the statement said.

The committee will go deeper into the issue in its first upcoming meeting, saying the statement was a warning for all related televisions and newspapers.

The statement also criticized other media organizations, which blamed Doğan Holding even before the publishing of their stories, calling on those groups to engage in self-criticism and a revision of their own publications and broadcasting in terms with a minimum of professional codes and ethical values.

The committee lamented all kinds of terror, extending its condolences to the family of Kiraz, the judicial community and the nation.