AZİZ ORUÇ
A year has passed since the devastating earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, but the problems in the region remain unresolved. Local journalists, who have put in tremendous effort to follow the events on the ground and inform the public, continue to work under challenging conditions due to the unresolved core issues.
Even a year after the Maraş-centered earthquakes, which resulted in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of homes and over 50,000 deaths, the pain remains as fresh as on the first day, and the memories are still vivid. The earthquake, which affected all sections of society, left deep scars. For the press workers, who were among the first teams to rush to the field in the first moments of the earthquake and tried to report the events for months, the earthquake was a challenging period.
We spoke with our colleagues in the media and local press who are still working under difficult conditions in the region, a year after the earthquake.
Journalists speaking to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reflected on the first year since the earthquake.
'We were caught unprepared'
Kazım Kızıl, who went to the region immediately after the earthquake and visited Hatay six times within the year to share his experiences, discussed the early days and the aftermath of the earthquake. Kızıl stated that he believed journalism did not fare well in the first moments of the earthquake:
"We saw better reporting from international agencies in the region. Agencies and newspapers like The Washington Post and The New York Times did an excellent job in terms of detailed, in-depth news, both visually and narratively. However, our reporting was more focused on names and hot news.
We journalists were very unprepared in the field, in every sense. Not just equipment-wise, but also psychologically, in terms of methodology, form, and communication. We expect and demand governments to be prepared for disasters, wars, accidents, earthquakes, and floods. However, the press demanding this does not prepare itself. The result is not good journalism. It's not bad journalism, but it's not good journalism either. Often, the news is made just to get through the day, talking to 5-10 people with a microphone in hand. This is not only due to a lack of preparation but also a lack of vision. I'm talking about news channels, TV channels, and their leaders. Whether pro-government or opposition, reporters worked hard. The concern for the TV channels and their leaders was more about 'clicks' and 'views' rather than news. They started producing content and news accordingly."
Kızıl noted that interest waned within a few weeks and almost no journalists remained in the area:
"A few weeks later, there were so few journalists in the area that it was as if none were left. The topic fell off the agenda and began to attract less interest. Mainstream media sent a reporter for a day on monthly anniversaries or special occasions. They flew them in and out on the same day, just to cover the moment. They tried to get by with street interviews, videos, and opinion pieces written from their desks. While so much money is spent on TV faces, mostly men, who talk in the evenings, it wasn't spent on field reporting. As a result, journalists who remained in the area and worked under difficult conditions were left more alone and had to struggle more. They had to fight much harder to report what was happening. Despite all the difficulties and impossibilities, many of my journalist colleagues stayed, wrote, filmed, and tried to voice the people.
No electricity, no water...
Journalists familiar with war reporting, who know Syria and the region, said, 'This looks like Aleppo, no different from a destroyed city in Syria. This is worse than Gaza.' In the first week, the first months, news was produced without any logistical support. No electricity, no water, housing was problematic. Beyond logistics, there were also psychologically challenging aspects. It was really hard to report while hearing people's screams. Your efforts are limited, you can't lift the rubble with a camera. So, it was very difficult both psychologically and logistically. It was very hard to communicate effectively with people.
Journalists are among the first on the scene
Who is in the first team? Search and rescue teams, firefighters, municipalities, politicians, and journalists go there. Journalists should be as careful if they are to help with first aid and communication. It was emotionally challenging, and many of my journalist colleagues suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some fell into depression. I have many female journalist colleagues who stayed in tents and got their period two days later due to stress. I wanted to mention how much this situation affects the body. Overall, it was very challenging and still continues. The problems from a year ago have not changed. Housing, logistics, economic support, opportunities, etc., these demands still exist.”
Ferhat Vural, a graduate of Istanbul University Faculty of Communication, who has been a journalist in Adıyaman for 9 years after working in Istanbul for many years, is the owner of Şehirde Bu Hafta Newspaper. Vural described the difficulties faced by the local press in Adıyaman:
"The city was devastated, there was terrible cold and heavy rain. Almost all streets and alleys were closed due to collapsed buildings. At every pile of rubble, there were people crying out for help. There was no electricity, water, phone, or internet, the city was plunged into darkness. Under these conditions, both as a victim of the earthquake and as a journalist, we tried to make our voices heard in Turkey and the world. Unfortunately, for the first 4 days, our voice could not reach beyond the borders of Adıyaman. And thousands of people died right before our eyes from cold, thirst, and hunger under the rubble...
Our relatives died, our homes and offices were either destroyed or damaged. We couldn't enter our houses for months. While living with these pains, we were trying to report the grievances caused by this disaster. When we were going around the rubble for news, people were asking us for help. 'Make our voices heard, people are alive under the rubble, please send excavators, search and rescue teams...' they said. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper coordination, we couldn't make this voice heard enough, but we could only share it on our social media accounts. As I said, the internet was either completely absent or only available at certain points, and it was very slow. It was very difficult to serve news under those conditions, and most of the time we had to go to Kahta district (where there was no problem with internet, electricity, etc.) and share the news there. Despite being so victimized, we didn't receive any help or support from the state, NGOs, or any other sectors."
