The BBC’s news service in Turkish, BBC Turkçe, marks its 70 years of broadcasting on Friday 20 November with a special event looking at the future of news. A multimedia co-production with the BBC’s partner in Turkey, NTV, Future of News is a televised debate co-presented by the BBC’s David Eades and NTV’s Banu Güven. The panel discussion with invited audience debates the effect on news of various global challenges, from new technologies to economic pressures. The BBC-NTV debate also questions whether there is a contradiction between the increasing power of the individual to use the internet for self-expression on the one hand, and the state’s instinct to put this freedom under control on the other.
Recorded on Monday 16 November at an NTV studio in Istanbul, the televised debate also runs across the BBC Turkçe and NTV radio and online outputs. It will also be available via the YouTube channel where BBC Turkçe is launching its content in time for the anniversary (YouTube.com/bbcturkce). Audiences are invited to text, email or ‘twitter’ their questions and comments to BBC Turkçe and NTV.
Panellists include:
* Steve Herrmann, Editor, BBC News website
* John Owen, Professor of International Journalism and Media Consultant
* Stewart Purvis, Partner, Content and Standards, Ofcom, the regulator for the UK communications industries;
* Sadeq Saba, Head, BBC Persian
* Haluk Şahin, Columnist, Broadcaster and Lecturer
* Ahmet Yeşıltepe, Editor-in-Chief, ntvmsnbc.com
Hüseyin Sükan, Head of BBC Turkçe, says: “When the BBC began broadcasting in Turkish 70 years ago, the future of news seemed clear. But is it now? As we engage the panel and the audience in a conversation about the future of news, we ask if the traditional media will survive or if, to do so, they need to transform; if reputations will still matter in the emerging media markets or if chances to success are more or less the same for anyone. We also ask if regulators can shut off ‘unwanted’ new-media information flow - or if this information will find its way through all kinds of barriers. It’s going to be an interesting discussion, and we are looking forward to engaging with our audience, whichever platform they are using to connect with us.”
Launched on 20 November 1939, BBC Turkçe has established itself among Turkish-speaking audiences as a trusted and respected news service, placing events and developments in Turkey and the region in the global context. Today, BBC Turkçe has evolved into a multimedia operation, offering news, information and analysis on radio, online, mobile phones - and television, with Dünya Gündemi, the news and current-affairs programme broadcast by NTV. Alongside radio and online partnership with NTV, the BBC Turkçe online news content on bbcturkce.com is also available on the Hurriyet and Haberturk websites.
BBC Turkçe is a multimedia service which offers its audiences news, information, reviews and analysis, placing events and developments in Turkey and the region in the global context. The radio programmes are broadcast nationally in Turkey at 07.00 and 18.00 Turkish Time on weekdays, 18.00 on Saturdays, and 11.00 and 18.00 on Sundays via the partner NTV Radyo. The BBC Turkçe TV news and current-affairs programme, Dünya Gündemi, features three times a week on the NTV news channel. The BBC Turkçe website, bbcturkce.com, offers news and analysis in text, audio and video, and can be accessed via mobile phones and via a range of partner websites.
(Alokesh Gupta, India)