Presidency's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun stated that 36 projects in 12 categories were awarded and congratulated young communicators during his speech at the “TRT Future Communicators Competition” Award Ceremony held for the tenth time this year at TRT Arı Studio.
Pointing out that the world of communication and media has experienced radical changes and transformations in recent years, Head of Communications Altun stated that Türkiye must be a decisive actor and practitioner in these transformation processes.
Head of Communications Altun said, "If we are the practitioners, we can challenge the injustice in the current information order. If we are the practitioners, we can advocate for the truth against the politics of lies and disinformation. If we are the practitioners, we can convey to the whole world what is happening in our region, geography, the Islamic world, the Turkic world, Baghdad, Tehran, Beirut, Jerusalem or Gaza by collecting our own information from the field rather than relying on the filter of Western media monopolies, and we can truly demonstrate to the world what is right and wrong. If we are the practitioners, we can speak on our own behalf."
Pointing out that whoever narrates the story will determine the good and the bad, Head of Communications Altun went on to say:
"Today, many intellectuals have produced works that expose the ways in which colonisers in the global communication regime deprive colonised peoples of the right to tell their own stories, how Western media representations suppress the actual voices of oppressed peoples, and the ways and means by which Western information production processes conceal the stories of the oppressed around the world through epistemic violence."
Head of Communications Altun said, "Western media both distort the truth about non-Western societies and institutionalise Western ethnocentrism by portraying the non-Western world with exotic content or violent images. We endanger our own existence and betray the truth if we fail to object to this distorted order and are unable to tell our own story or if we lack the courage to tell our own story."
In reference to Aldous Huxley's words, "Hiding the truth enslaves people, while revealing the truth liberates people," Head of Communications Altun said, ''I would like to emphasise that while we fight against injustice and colonialist policies in the global world order under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we also fight against media imperialism and the definition monopoly that it maintains, which perpetuates this injustice.''
''Accessing authentic content is becoming increasingly challenging''
Stating that the proliferation of digitalisation and artificial intelligence has set the way for an anti-truth information ecosystem, Head of Communications Altun added, "Together, we are witnessing the rule of lies. On the one hand, there is an increase in content, yet it is becoming increasingly challenging to access authentic content, making public oversight and oversight on behalf of the public interest harder to achieve. Is it the truth that circulates, or is it lie, manipulation or disinformation that distorts truth that renders even the concept of truth meaningless?''
Stating that verifying the accuracy of content in the face of disinformation bombardment is an extremely challenging task, especially for users, considering the structure, functioning, and speed of the medium, Head of Communications Altun emphasised the need for public oversight and control mechanisms.
Recalling that they established the Centre for Combating Disinformation under the Presidency's Directorate of Communications to solve these and similar challenges, Headof Communications Altun said, ''Our aim is to detect lies, manipulation, and disinformation while also swiftly sharing accurate information with the national and international public in all dimensions.''
Noting that they cannot be satisfied with simply verification and confirmation mechanisms in the name of public interest, Head of Communications Altun stated,
''We need effective legal regulations and deterrent measures for digital media, particularly social media since we cannot allow our youth to be lost in the dark side of social media and digital platforms, as our President has stated in his speech today. Unfortunately, it is apparent that these platforms have evolved into platforms that promote and disseminate violence and brutality. I would also like to underline that we expect conventional media organisations to act in accordance with the principle of responsible broadcasting during this process.
Our television channels and newspapers cannot and should not keep violence and evil on the public agenda by dramatising every detail for the sake of ratings. Our traditional media outlets must be considerably more careful not to transmit unfiltered images from social media to larger audiences. We cannot allow our young people to be viewed as commodities by these structures and to be contaminated by popular culture and digital media for trivial and materialistic reasons."
"Social media platforms are just as responsible for content as users are"
Head of Communications Altun, stated that new regulations are required to address new scenarios, and said, "Social media platforms are just as responsible as users for contents, including lies, manipulation, and disinformation. They are even more responsible. But regrettably, these platforms are disregarding content that plays on social nerve ends, polarises people, and incites racism, violence, brutality, xenophobia, and Islamophobia. It even seems to us that these platforms are supporting such content. Despite their claims to be referees, they often play the roles of players and actors in international politics."
Head of Communications Altun stated that digital platforms refrain from establishing an effective control mechanism even against terrorism and violence propaganda, do not remove such posts despite requests, and increase the visibility of posts that target the fundamental values that unite society via algorithms and added, "It is our primary duty to protect our cyber homeland against cyber threats and hybrid threats posed by these structures. We expect you, our young communicators, to act with this awareness and sensitivity."
"Israel has murdered nearly 200 of our journalist brothers in Gaza"
Head of Communications Altun, stated that many Western conventional media outlets, as well as some digital media outlets, continue to operate with a double standard.
Stating that the support of Western governments and Western media companies for Israel's war crimes did not stop and increased exponentially during the genocide process that has been ongoing in Gaza for a year, Head of Communications Altun said, "Western media outlets and governments, unfortunately, supported the Israeli war and genocide machine."
Head of Communications Altun stated that Israel, which intentionally targets journalists, health professionals, babies in their cradle, and women, targeted Turkish journalists again a few days ago, saying:
"An occupying terrorist who was under the protection of Israeli soldiers interrupted TRT News' broadcast and threatened our reporters. One day later, Israeli soldiers this time directly attempted to stop the same reporters from broadcasting. We are confronted with an occupying, invading, colonial structure, namely Israel, whose crimes and misdeeds are widely recognised. Since October 7, Israel has been targeting journalists and their families in an effort to conceal the genocide and hide these crimes. Israel has murdered nearly 200 of our journalist brothers in Gaza thus far. The most recent incident involved the targeting and martyrdom of Anadolu Agency reporter Hasan Hamad as he attempted to photograph the Israeli bombardment."
Reminding that Salman al-Bashir, the Palestine TV correspondent in Gaza, removed his vest and cap in protest of Israel's reckless killing of journalists seeking to report the truth to the world, Head of Communications Altun noted the following:
"You cannot hide the sun with a sieve. The truth, with all its bluntness and bitterness, will haunt Israel. Both Israel and its accomplices must now realise this: We will keep valiantly fighting against genocidal perpetrators and murderers in the region with courage and a commitment to truth and justice. Unlike the global network that remains silent while nearly 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza, we will persist in exposing and speaking out the wickedness and double standards here. We will maintain the channels of communication open in the West Bank as in Gaza, and in Lebanon as in Jerusalem, consistently informing the world of Israel's attacks. We will endeavour to do whatever is on our part in the field of communication and media to establish lasting peace, stability, and justice in our region and, as stated by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to build a fairer world."
Stating that there are tasks to be accomplished and goals to be achieved in a variety of areas from politics to economy, culture and arts to communication and media, Head of Communications Altun said, "As the Republic of Türkiye, we recognise that building a better and fairer future involves investing in today's youth. We will persist in our efforts to provide assistance to our youth in all walks of life in order to establish a more humane, prosperous, and fairer system, as we have done today. We will continue to go to the mat for our young people who produce with love, passion, and excitement."
Head of Communications Altun extended his congratulations to the winning communicators as well as all the young participants for their bravery and hard work, and expressed his gratitude to the TRT family and jury members who have organised the Future Communicators Competition for the past 10 years.
Following his remarks, Head of Communications Altun presented awards to young communicators who ranked in the TRT Special Award and Documentary Film categories.
