The Portrayal of Journalists in Turkish Cinema: A Study about Journalism Ethics through Cinema

Abstract

This study discusses journalism and how well this profession is framed according to the professional codes of journalism. It focuses on Turkish films made between 1980 and 1990. In the early 1980s, journalism became an important issue with the coercion of the mass media under the Turkish Republic. Gazeteci (The Journalist), Rahmet ve Gazap (Rahmet and Gazap), and Uyanık Gazeteci (The Vigilant Journalist) are the films based on the profession of journalism made during this era. The selected films discuss the freedom of the press, expression, and media ethics, and these themes are intertwined with the melodramatic element of ‘love’. In the films, many dialogues show that the duty of the press is aiding justice or that a journalist must always defend press freedom and write the truth. Social obedience throughout the history of the Turkish Republic is also emphasised in these films.