A week ago I posted an article talking about the Metblogs meet we had in Taksim. As some of you might already know, the meet was arranged by a journalist named Duygu Uckun because she wanted to write an article about Istanbul @ Metblogs.I met Sven, Erkan, David and Seyda for the first time during that meet.
We sat at the cafe for a couple of hours chatting and responding to various questions about blogging in general, blogs in turkey, metroblogging, our lives here in Istanbul, why we moved here and questions that don’t come to mind right now. It was a great moment in the history of turkish blogging. Great bloggers united for one cause, let the turkish population know about the joys of blogging and how important it is. David Honl took some pictures of us despite me trying to bribe him into giving up on the idea.
We waited for some time because we we’re not sure when the story was going to go in prints.
Yesterday we we’re notified by the journalist that the article would be out tomorrow so I was very surprised this morning when I was called up and told that I was on the second page of the Radikal news paper.
I nearly had a stroke when reading the article tho..She had cut off everything we had said. No mentions of all the pretty things we explained about the blogging community and how blogs we’re expanding in Turkey. The whole concept of commercial blogs. The reason why we blog.
I personally was granted one phrase that said that My mother was Turkish and my father Belgian and that I moved here a year ago.
On the picture that was chosen to be printed, it looks like we’re very unhappy, the whole group (apart for Erkan who always looks happy 
). I myself look like I’m about to jump on the first person passing by and hurt them.
I am very disappointed by this article. Maybe it’s because I had too high hopes. I wish journalists like her concentrated more on the mission than on superficiality.
nonsensical reason
Write to be heard.
Adminical Stuff
Fantastic! Don’t beat yourself up kid. Having your name and face in print is nothing to sneeze at. I think a poorly executed promotion is better than no recognition at all. Turkish bloggers who publish in English are a rare breed, in case you didn’t notice, so your chin should most definitely be UP and your armpits SWOLLEN. I salute all of you guys. -Murat
no big surprise ha?
Well, think some of this miscomfort with the article has to do with not knowing the internal workings of a newspaper. Although one whole page would be required to put all the things that one has to write, you are limited to saying only 3500 characters. that is why, similar to TV, most of the stuff in daily press cannot provide through information, but just gives a glimpse so that one can look in detail – if interested. I am sure a whole page about blogs, and their working, and history would be very fun to read but turkish press is not like The New York Times, or Guardian. So in my opinion just by explaining what a blog is and mentioning a specific blog name in a newspaper can be counted as a success for bloggers…
For the photos, they were taken by a professional photographer whose works are published in world’s most famous magazines and newspapers. this is the best one can hope for. photos cannot make people smile, am I wrong?
I totally agree with Duygu as photos cannot make people smile… it has to come from within…(((:
For those reading these comments, ‘duygu’ is “Duygu Uckun” the journalist who wrote the article refered to in my post.
I think Davids work is brilliant and have nothing to say about it.
I only pointed out that we looked unhappy on it and that is all.
I do not agree with your explanation and even tho you made a big effort for the article, I think it still is a let down.
One doesn’t need to know the internal works of a newspaper, we can look at other more detailed works done by other journalists on other subjects to see that it can be done if wanted.
We would have expected the same kind of regard for our work.
I understand that you would feel the need to protect your article and I am also entitled to my opinion.
Maybe we were misinformed from the beginning and we’re expecting too much from this piece of journalistic prose.
The night we all got together, we tried to explain to you the importance of blogging and the reasoning behind it.
We tried to make it as clear as possible for everyone to be able to understand.
Those were important points we we’re making. I didn’t know that this was going to be a light piece on tourists in Istanbul who happen to also blog on Metblogs. I thought that it would be reflecting our thoughts, like you said it would in your initial email. I guess I was wrong.
As a huge ‘idil fan’ I was also very excited to hear that an article was to appear in Radikal Newspaper regarding blogging. So imagine my dissapointment when I saw the actual article. My first impression was; ‘where’s the rest of it?’
I do not think I have any obligation to protect my work, that is why I did not give my full name in the first place. I did not want to write as the writer of the article, but just as a blog reader that has read both the piece in the newspaper and your comments on it.
I still have the same position, so I am not defending or protecting the ‘prose’ to you.
But as a follower of your blog, I can offer you to read about the Blooks (blog – book).
This might be the type of opportunity you are looking for. The traditional way of writing a book about the important points about blogs might be informative to all of us, your readers.
I do not want to spend too much time and space here, so this would be all on my side.
I do not see the relevance of your response but thank you for the information, I will surely look into it.
I’m not looking for an opportunity, I’m just voicing the concern many of us had after reading your article. Whether you can take constructive criticism is another subject.
Thank you for your comments.
I think the lesson learned here is how a disconnect between the writer and the subject continues the tradition of immature reporting and the rush for the sensationalist mechanisms embedded on the representatives of an organization to sell papers.
Sometimes even predetermined rules regarding an article and its context get diverted to relative but dissimilar avenues in the interest of the paper’s edit direction, often with similar results.
Good reporters, and especially those with some clout, insist on sticking to the original intent and live and die by their persistence. The not so clever ones yield to demands made upon them by the leaders they follow.
On the other hand, the subject(s) are overly excited about the coverage and the subject matter, as well as making certain assumptions they preconceive, they fail to recognize their right to demand certain guidelines and the unimportance the subject matter when it comes down to the direction for the story.
You live and you learn. The media in general can be a great ally or a terrible liability, sometimes at the same time, to society and its members.
Angelvox … for me the article takes nothing away from your blog. I love it, I tell people about it … so keep blogging and don’t let the disappointment affect you in any way.
And Metin, you seemd so wise in what you wrote.
I was interviewed by a Turkish newspaper once and was mortified by what they wrote … still, people loved it and I survived.
If the article brings people to your site out of curiousity, they will decide for themselves based on your writing and they’ll keep coming back
[...] out a recent article written about them, however Idil from Ignore Me if You Can has a more detailed posting about the same incident. Erkan’s Field Diary tells his version of the interview process [...]