ASULIS Discourse, Dialogue, Democracy Laboratory under the auspices of Hrant Dink Foundation held a panel discussion titled “Peace Journalism and Media in Turkey” on December 22, 2016 in the Havak Hall of Anarad Hığutyun Building. In the panel discussion moderated by Nurcan Akad, rights-based journalism in Turkey, peace journalism and the role of media in the periods of conflict had been discussed with the participation of Sevda Alankuş, Mete Çubukçu and Murat Çelikkan.

Sevda Alankuş pointed out that the notion of peace journalism is defined in a way to include only states of war and peace on the basis of the discourse of media that incites war and violence, but in fact it should also be discussed on the basis of a positive definition in addition to war and conflict. She emphasized that peace journalism, which she defines as a proactive and peace-oriented journalism that doesn’t wait for a war or conflict to erupt, should be thought as a type of journalism that contributes to eliminate all sources of tension, marginalization and conflict in the society. 

As a response to Nurcan Akad’s question about the possibility of maintaining peace discourse and carrying out peace journalism in conflict zones and areas of crisis, Mete Çubukçu stated that basic principles of the universal journalism is related to peace journalism and a text that is written as accurately and objectively as possible contributes to peace journalism. Çubukçu also pointed out that covering especially the stories of the civilians in areas of conflict and war is important in terms of breaking the destructive language of war and showing another aspect of the war. 

Nurcan Akad asked whether peace journalism and choice of discourse of this type of journalism is an ethical preference or it is something that the journalist should internalize. As a response to this question, Murat Çelikkan pointed out that ethical stance in journalism is a matter of personal struggle and this stance result in certain gains, though it is not enough to transform the structures. Noting that journalism that is carried out by the book is not objective and impartial, Çelikkan said that objectivity in journalism doesn’t mean impartiality and that is why he prefers to side with peace. Furthermore, he noted that newspapers in Turkey cover the states of war that Turkey is involved one way or the other like it is a match of the national football team.