Turkey watchdog fines 3 media outlets over quake coverage
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Emergency workers search through rubble for bodies in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake, in Antakya, Turkey, on Feb 21.
PHOTO: REUTERS
ANKARA - Turkey’s media watchdog fined three broadcasters on Wednesday over their coverage of the earthquake that rocked the country’s south, killing more than 42,000 people, said an opposition-nominated member of the watchdog.
Halk TV, Tele 1 and Fox were all handed fines, calculated based on their revenues for the month preceding the infractions, for reporting shortcomings in the government’s earthquake response.
The three channels are known for editorial lines critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Halk TV is strongly aligned with the CHP party, Turkey’s main opposition.
Mr Erdogan unleashed a sweeping crackdown after a failed coup in 2016 that placed much of the media under the control of the government and its business allies.
He will seek re-election in 2023, and his administration’s handling of the quake, which has claimed more than 42,000 lives in Turkey, has become a key battleground issue.
The main opposition leader, who is running neck and neck with Mr Erdogan in opinion polls, has spearheaded the criticism.
Last October, Turkey passed a law punishing the dissemination of “fake news” by up to three years in prison.
According to Reporters Without Borders, the country ranked 149 out of 180 for press freedom in 2022.
Halk TV and Tele 1 were fined 5 per cent of their January revenues, Mr Ilhan Tasci, a member of the Radio and Television Supreme Council’s board who was nominated by opposition parties, wrote on Twitter.
The broadcasters were also ordered to suspend one of their daily programmes for five days.
Halk TV and Fox were also fined 3 per cent of their January turnover for separate infractions, Mr Tasci added.
“All these penalties were based on comments and news after the earthquake,” he wrote.
“We live in a time when reporting is considered a crime.”
Mr Nazmi Bilgin, head of Turkey’s Journalists’ Association, called the decisions a “crime” against viewers, and described the watchdog as a “censorship board”.
“With these penalties, the criminal members of (the watchdog), who disregard the right of the public to receive news and the right of the earthquake victims to be informed, commit a great crime,” he said.
Tele 1 editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardag called the penalties a “complete disgrace”.
Many destitute families have lashed out at the government for failing to reach them and save their loved ones from the rubble of the earthquake. AFP
