The place of local television in the media organisation in Turkey
A. Seyda AÇIKKOL (TR) Founder & CEO -- Turkish Local TV Union (Ankara)
-The place of local television for the democratisation of Turkey
-Challenges facing local broadcasting in Turkey
-Coping with these challenges : Local Television Union
The first commercial media organisation in Turkey’s civil broadcasting history was founded in 1992. In the meantime, private radio and television foundations began to broadcast all over Turkey.
There are today 232 local television and 765 local radio stations broadcasting in various regions. The development and activation of the electronic media at such a fast speed in only a few years has, without a doubt, given rise to many problems. The legal, technical and personnel infrastructure was not ready. In this process, as it was new and interesting, the broadcasting establishments relied, to a large extent, on the support of the public.
However, criticisms and complaints were to follow as the developments were irregular and aimless. The legal arrangement, governed by law number 3984, did not bring about the positive results which were expected. During this period, the national media was always under the magnifying glass. Truth was determined by a system of «trial and error», even when positive evaluations were to hand.
In the meantime, hundreds of local television and radio foundations in the rest of the country were left unsupported.They were all, on the basis of their individual strengths, trying to survive and resist against political, ideological and economic pressures. They were living under a threat of losing their economic and intellectual independence.
Many local television and radio stations began to struggle for principles such as the protection of human rights and liberties, satisfying the public’s expectations, protection of nature and the environment and a more sophisticated atmosphere in the Turkish media organisations.
The presentation will assess this process with regard to the place of the local media in Turkey, the problems which confront them, and the challenges facing the independence of these local media organisations. Finally, the place of the Local Television Union in finding solutions to the problems encountered by the local media.
The European Audiovisual Association CIRCUIT!
Carme MAYUGO (ES) Coordinator -- CIRCUIT! / Clot RTV-Sant Martí (Barcelona)
The European Audiovisual Association CIRCUIT! develops, from a community point of view, all tasks related to local television and audiovisual production.
CIRCUIT! is made up of ten organisations from different European regions, which share an extensive and successful experience in the communication and audiovisual sector for crossborder and inter-regional cooperation and development.
The members of CIRCUIT! are based in the following countries and regions : Northern Visions Media Centre (Dublin, Ireland), Fedekas (Madrid, Spain), Cooperativa SudNord (Rome, Italy), TV.TV. (Albertville, France), EMA-RTV and RTV Chipiona (Andalucia, Spain), Fundación Ttipi Ttapa (Bera de Bidasoa, Basque Country, Spain), Associació d’Amics de la Rŕdio i la TV del Clot-Camp de l’Arpa (Barcelona, Spain), Aldudarrak Bideo (Aldude, France) and La Factoria Sinňptica (Girona, Spain).
These structures decided to establish a European association founded in April 2001: to share experiences and to establish joint action plans, believing in the potentiality of audiovisual content and new technologies to erase borders and to establish a new framework of European life.
The aims of CIRCUIT! are :
-To stimulate the participation of who might benefit from initiatives
-To facilitate the dissemination of knowledge
-To unify different geographical areas and social sectors
-To strengthen development possibilities
-To facilitate cooperation
-To create job opportunities