VIOLENCE IN AND THROUGH THE MEDIA

Egemen Bagis made the following speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe meeting where Violence in and through the Media was discussed:

In 1946 Darryl Zanuck, a producer at 20th Century Fox, said that television wouldn't last because "people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."

British journalist, publisher and politician C.P. Scott however proclaimed; “Television? The word is half Latin and half Greek. No good can come of it.”

Today we know they were wrong.

Media undeniably play an indispensible role in modern societies. As elected representatives we all have a responsibility protecting freedom of Media. However media should be responsible as well.

As emphasized in this report States have an obligation to combat media violance and protect the society, especially minors against its harms.

Only last month, there was an attack in US where two schoolchildren, both 12, allegedly stabbed their schoolmate 19 times and left her dead.

All in a bid to impress a mythological internet character, often portrayed in violent scenes, called Slender Man.

Freedom of Media cannot provide impunity for motivating violance. Media power and influence is disproportionate compared to accountability.

Today powerful corporations have enormous influence on mainstream media without adequate foresight.

Stories can end up being biased or omitted so as not to offend advertisers or owners or their interests. Preventing monopolitizations is a must.

Freedom of society and the individual is as important as freedom of media.

As Nobel prize winning French author and philosopher Albert Camus put it; “A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.”

Media can at times turn into a massive machine of bullying and bashing against targeted people who do not even stand a chance to clear their name against waves of unsubstantiated accusations. I stand before you as a victim of such top-heavy, propagandist, militant journalism.

We all witness throughout Europe, media mechanisms being directed against migrants, minorities or different groups especially during election periods to incite racial discrimination and hate speech.

Global challanges such as terrorism, narcotics, sexual and physical violance, illegal migration, uncontrolled gambling, xenophobia, islamaphobia, antisemitism, and all other types of discreminations require global cooperation. Double standarts approaching these issues only hurt the sense of credibility and cooperation among our member states.

We must keep in mind that nobody is 100% safe until everybody is safe.