TRT World

TRT World is a Turkish public broadcaster international news channel which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day, operated by the TRT and based in Taksim Square, Istıklal Avenue, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affairs focusing on Turkey, Europe, Africa, and Western and Southern Asia.[1] In addition to its Istanbul headquarters, TRT World has broadcasting centres and studios in Washington D.C., London, and Singapore. It is a member of the Association for International Broadcasting.

TRT World
CountryTurkey
Broadcast areaWorldwide
HeadquartersTaksim Square, İstiklal Avenue, Tarlabaşı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format16:9
Ownership
OwnerTRT
Sister channelsTRT 1
TRT 2
TRT 3
TRT 4
TRT Cocuk
History
Launched18 May 2015
(test broadcast)
30 June 2015 (2015-06-30)
ReplacedTRT Int
Links
WebsiteTRTWorld.com
Availability
Streaming media
trtworld.comWatch live

The network has received criticism for failing to meet accepted journalism ethics and standards for independence and objectivity, with some commentators especially in the West calling it a mouthpiece or propaganda arm of the Erdoğan administration.[2][3][4] TRT World has stated that it is financially and editorially independent from the administration, and that its news gathering and reporting activities are just like those of other publicly-funded broadcasters around the world, with a mission to show a non-Turkish audience events from Turkey's viewpoint.[5][6][4] However, according to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey in 2020 ranked 154th out of 179 countries in press freedom.[7]

Programmes

In addition to those listed below, TRT World runs various once-off documentaries. Current programmes on the channel are:

  • Across The Balkans: Weekly programme hosted by Nafisa Latic, featuring interviews with guests from Balkan Region regarding issues related to its region.
  • Beyond the game: Daily sports show
  • Money Talks: Daily finance programme hosted by Azhar Sukri, featuring TRT World's Editor at Large, Craig Copetas with in-depth reports and analysis,
  • Roundtable: Hosted by David Foster. Roundtable is a discussion programme where guests debate the news.
  • Showcase: Daily arts and culture show.[8]
  • The Newsmakers: The channel's flagship current affairs programme, featuring reports and interviews.
  • Compass: Monthly documentary series filmed globally. Compass is an exploration of issues through art, culture and creativity.
  • Double-Check: Weekly show double-checking various news stories from the week. Turkish-Australian journalist Omer Kablan[9] is the presenter and writer for the show.
  • Inside America with Ghida Fakhry: Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics, presented by Ghida Fakhry.[10]
  • Bigger Than Five: Current affairs program about global issues and international power politics hosted by Ghida Fakhry.[11] Its name derived from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's proverb "The World is bigger than five [great powers]".
  • Decoded
  • Straight Talk: Brings audience the much-needed context to stories that are changing the world. It features in depth analyses of global events that are redefining our age. This show is hosted by Ayse Suberker.

Notable staff
  • Ghida Fakhry
  • Shiulie Ghosh
  • Adnan Nawaz
  • Martin Sandford
  • Andrea Sanke
  • Charlotte Bates
  • Kate Partridge
  • Maria Ramos
  • Michelle Kosinski
  • Rachel Ruble
  • Efnan Han
  • Andrew Hopkins

Awards and nominations

In 2018 TRT World was nominated in 5 categories at the Drum Online Media Awards:

  • Social Media Team of the year[12]
  • Technology Leader of the year[13]
  • Breaking News Story of the year[14]
  • App of the year[15]
  • Technical Innovation of the year[16]

Press freedom and neutrality

In March 2020, the United States Justice Department required TRT World's Washington operation to register as an agent of the Government of Turkey, engaged in political activities, under the anti-propaganda Foreign Agents Registration Act. TRT World's argument that it is independent was rejected by US officials who found and claim that the Turkish government "exercises direction and control of TRT by regulation and oversight, and by controlling its leadership, budget, and content."[6] Apart from some Russian and Chinese networks, other state-funded media including the Qatari-backed Al Jazeera, British-backed BBC News, French-backed France 24 and German-backed Deutsche Welle had not been determined to be foreign-government agents.[17]

In a 2019 op-ed in The Washington Post, MEMRI's executive director Steven Stalinsky surmised TRT World as "a propaganda arm of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime", similar to the Russian RT network. He notes that the channel offered only enthusiastically promotional coverage of the Turkish military's Operation Peace Spring in Syria, while according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the government banned critical news coverage domestically. Stalinsky urges human rights activists, journalists, and others not to appear on and legitimize the network's shows, just as they would not appear on RT.[3]

Following the 2016 Turkish coup attempt, some journalists who had recently joined the company resigned.[18][19] One of those who resigned said: "I no longer hold out any hope that this channel will become what I wanted it to become (...) After the coup, it became very apparent that the channel had no intention of actually covering it properly, in a professional, international broadcast standard." The managing editor at the time said that he "never received a phone call from Ankara trying to frame the broadcast or give them talking points."[20]

More recently as of March 2020 with the Evros border crisis, TRT World and other Turkish media have in a way, accelerated on producing fake news as alleged by the Greek government, as was also mentioned by Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a CNN interview twice,[21] stating that the reports all come from Turkish media and other unknown sources aiming to discredit the Hellenic Coast Guard and Hellenic Armed Forces efforts with propaganda videos. TRT World claimed that Greece sent back refugee vessels to Turkish waters, which was denied by Greece.[22] Even though, there have been reports by other sources of Greek coastal authorities forcing the refugee vessels back to Turkish side, in a military strategy dubbed "push back".[23]

See also
  • TRT Haber

References
  1. Sigismondi, Paolo (25 July 2019). World Entertainment Media: Global, Regional and Local Perspectives. Taylor & Francis. pp. 256–. ISBN 978-1-351-60370-6.
  2. Asani, Rose (18 November 2016). "President Erdogan's media mouthpiece aims to woo the west". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  3. Stalinsky, Steven. "Opinion - This Turkish TV network is Erdogan's propaganda arm. U.S. experts should stop appearing on it". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  4. Roettgers, Janko (22 November 2017). "How Turkey's TRT World Wants to Win Over U.S. Online Video Viewers (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  5. Srivastava, Mehul; Mance, Henry (11 March 2016). "Turkish TV station aims to switch western views". Financial Times. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  6. Schaffer, Aaron (19 March 2020). "Justice Department ordered Turkish TV station to register as foreign agent". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  7. "2020 World Press Freedom Index". Reporters Without Borders. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  8. "In TRT World's 'Showcase,' arts coverage goes global". DailySabah. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  9. "Login • Instagram". Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  10. "Inside America - TRT World". Inside America - TRT World. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  11. "Bigger than Five - TRT World". Bigger than Five - TRT World. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  12. "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  15. "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. "Online Media Awards 2018". The Drum Awards. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  17. Schaffer, Aaron (18 March 2020). "Turkey's public broadcaster registers as foreign agent". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  18. "TRT World Ceo İbrahim Eren: We will tell the truth, even if it is inconvenient or disturbing". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  19. Scott, Alev (22 August 2016). "Turkish journalists seek refuge abroad post-coup". Newsweek. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  20. Nissenbaum, Dion (12 August 2016). "After Turkey's Failed Coup, a State-Owned TV Station Tilts". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  21. "Greek PM to Turkey: 'Stop the provocations, let's start talking'".
  22. "Europe's migrant crisis is worsening during the pandemic. The reaction has been brutal".
  23. Deshmukh, Vishwajeet; Malhotra, Lubna (24 November 2020). Mahajan, Khushali (ed.). "Migration, Push-Backs and Europe: A Blind Eye to a Refugee Crisis". Jurist. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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