A Reporter’s Reflections: the Huriyet Daily News

by Eli Markham

During our second to last morning in Istanbul, a number of Globalist reporters met with David Judson, a columnist for Hurriyet, Turkey’s largest English-language daily.

A self-described “heretic among the Christians,” Judson spoke about the differences between the state of journalism in America and Turkey. Judson, who was the Editor-in-Chief of Hurriyet until two months ago, was explicit that Turkey is not a friendly country for journalists, but said that America might not be much better.

Turkey is notorious for imprisoning journalists, and Judson said that several of his friends are in prison. Prosecution of journalists routinely earns Turkey poor scores from Reporter’s without Borders.

However, Turkey does have a wealth of different political viewpoints. Istanbul, a city about the size of New York, has thirty different major daily newspapers, while New York has only five. Other large American cities, such as Los Angeles and Chicago, only have one daily newspaper each. This creates what Judson termed a “diversity of perspective,” even in a place which is lacking “freedom of the press.”

America rarely imprisons its reporters, but there is no diversity in their coverage. When multiple news outlets cover the same event, they all produce similar stories, which Judson attributed to the “cricket effect.” Under this logic, all reporters conform to the same angle, which is generally that of the Associated Press or The New York Times.

“If you send two journalists to cover something you’ll get two stories, but if you send ten journalists you’ll only get one,” Judson said.

He gave numerous examples from his career in which he had tried to write a true story, but was drowned out by the louder voices of hysteria. For example, in his coverage of the L.A. earthquake he made the point that it hadn’t actually been catastrophic, something no one else wanted to hear.

Judson, sadly, suggested no remedies for the problem of media synchronization, only an exhortation to be willing to go against the tide.