Turkey: First Hearing Of The Case Against Canan Kaya, Editor-In-Chief For Medya Koridoru, Was Postponed To Next Year
Location: Turkey, Istanbul
Date: November 13, 2020Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
“Demirören Medya'da büyük skandal! Kadın çalışan, yönetim katından ayakkabılarıyla geçtiği için istifaya zorlandı!” başlıklı haberinin ardından Demirören Medya Grubu, Medya Koridoru Genel Yayın Yönetmeni Canan Kaya ve TELE1 TV, İleri Haber, Ajans Press, Aykırı Haber ve Medya Koridoru aleyhine tazminat davası açtı. Davanın ilk duruşması dün İstanbul Bakırköy 6. Asliye Hukuk Mahkemesi'nde görüldü. Dava 2 Şubat 2021 tarihine erteledi. Gazetecilikte Kadın Koalisyonu olarak Kaya’ya ve medya kuruluşlarına açılan tazminat davasını kınıyoruz. Demirören Medya Grubu'nun davayı geri çekmesini talep ediyoruz.
Canan’s story, “Scandal in Demirören! A female employee was forced to resign for passing the management floor with shoes on” was published on the news website Medya Koridoru and other media companies, which credited the story from Canan in May 2020. Thereafter, Demirören Media Group sued journalist Canan Kaya and five news organizations for 50,000 Turkish Lira in compensation for their accusation of intentional reporting to defile the brand’s reputation.
The first hearing of the case was held yesterday. Demirören withdrew the charges against Aykırı News and Ajans Press. Nevertheless, the allegations against Canan Kaya and the other three companies still stand. Once the preliminary examination of the file was completed, the court decided to proceed with the next phase— investigation. Both sides were given two weeks to report witnesses to be heard in court. The next hearing of this case will be on February 2, 2021.
Speaking to The Coalition For Women in Journalism, Canan Kaya said that “To defile Demirören Media Group's brand reputation, there are such examples we can consider. 45 Hürriyet journalists lost their job without any explanation. Journalists were held in containers while reporting. Many people were unfairly dismissed. For example, Demirören News claimed their journalist, Felat Bozarslan, was not a war correspondent to avoid paying him proper severance. Considering this, if I had a deliberate intention, do you think I would need it? Demirören Media Group has sufficiently damaged its reputation with such injustices.”
She also underlined that many journalists are invisible. “None of the press unions or NGO’s came to follow this case. Covering violations in press and press organizations, as a journalist, it saddened me" she added. Canan drew attention to her voice and the voices of all journalists who have gone through similar trials; they should be heard.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the lawsuits filed by media groups and organizations simply because they disagree with a journalist’s work. It is a journalist's duty to report on rights violations and such disparities. We demand the immediate withdrawals of lawsuits brought arbitrarily against journalists.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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