dokuz8NEWS, the digital news platform that combines the dynamism of citizen journalism with the experience of professional journalism in Turkey, is entering a new era much stronger. In the event held at Makine Lokal in İstanbul, information was given about the new period works of dokuz8NEWS. In the event attended by many journalists, writers, local media journalists, and civil society representatives, the importance of independent media was emphasized and it was stated that Turkey has entered a new era. Representatives of dokuz8 Local Media Coordination from İzmir, Adana, Antalya, Antep, and Bursa attended the event.

dokuz8ACADEMY HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED 

In parallel with the event, distance education videos of dokuz8ACADEMY started to be broadcast. The videos can be accessed at the address dokuz8akademi.net. You can watch the video about dokuz8NEWS of Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici from this link. dokuz8ACADEMY will also prepare and publish election-oriented training videos. Moreover, the publicity campaign of dokuz8ACADEMY is starting on Monday, October 11. 

BOTH CELEBRATION AND THE NEW PROJECTS 

Speaking at the event, dokuz8NEWS Editor-in-Chief Gökhan Biçici emphasized that dokuz8NEWS is a unique platform in Turkey that combines the dynamism of citizen journalism with the experience of journalism from the very first moment. Biçici said, “We have left behind a difficult period,” and emphasized that dokuz8NEWS started its broadcasting life on March 30, 2014, on a day when the local election was held, and that it has not been easy coming to these days, and talked about the new period projects. Biçici gave information about the studies of dokuz8TV, dokuz8RADIO, and dokuz8PAPER, as well as the dokuz8ACADEMY, the establishment of which was announced, and he explained the preparations for the 2023 election.

Stating that they are the media organization that has organized the most training sessions in the last seven years, Gökhan Biçici said, “Perhaps it was these training activities that kept the dokuz8 alive and brought it into these days. These works were also organizational works. The training sessions allowed dokuz8 to build itself. It currently has a network like no other in Turkey. As a result of all the experience, we are announcing the establishment of dokuz8ACADEMY today.”

ELECTION 2023 LOCAL MEDIA COORDINATION

Gökhan Biçici gave good news as Turkey is going through a very critical election process. Biçici explained that they formed a Local Media Coordination with the participation of more than 100 local media organizations at first hand and said, “Whether the election is in 6 months or 1.5 years, all of which are very close dates, our goal is to place at least one local journalist in each district. Therefore, on the election day, there will be around 1000 journalists across Turkey who will watch the election. We are in preparation to not condemn this society to the Anadolu Agency. We are establishing the Election 2023 Local Media Coordination.” Emphasizing that the architects of this work were also at the event, Gökhan Biçici said, “Local Media Coordination, citizen journalist-supported local media coordination will start to take bigger steps from now on, with the next election being the concrete target. We will start to make this more visible as of today.”

"A BUSY PERIOD IS BEGINNING AND IT IS WAITING FOR US"

Biçici said that they envisioned a nationwide news network, Local Media Coordination and dokuz8ACADEMY to support and develop capacity, and made the following assessments: “A busy period begins and awaits us. We have survived many difficulties in 7.5 years, we have left difficult times behind, but we have never stopped. ‘I have bad news, what we have experienced up to now was the trailer, compared to the next 2-3 years,’ I said before. A period awaits us when what we experienced before will only be as meaningful as a trailer. Turkey is entering a kind of campaign period that will start symbolically on October 29, 2021, and end on October 29, 2023; how this period will turn out depends on the efforts of each of us, including the people here. Turkey is entering the period of the most intense political struggle in its entire history. We are talking about a period when the opposition took the stage and became the playmaker. This will also be a period when the media debate in Turkey will be reopened and rebuilt.” Biçici emphasized that dokuz8NEWS will be one of the founding subjects of this period in which the media will also be rebuilt.

"WE TOOK THE INSPIRATION FROM DOKUZ8"

Adana BirbuçukTV Editor-in-Chief Armağan Kabaklı, one of the journalists in the Local Media Coordination, took the floor after Gökhan Biçici. Explaining that local media pay a huge price, Kabaklı said, “We have both quantity and quality problems in media. dokuz8 comes into play here, and the training sessions it provided became one of its most important activities. If I am a journalist who remains in the pluralistic structure of the media while being an unemployed and objectionable infantry journalist, I owe this to dokuz8, to the inspiration we got from dokuz8 and the contributions of The Journalists' Union of Turkey (TGS) Graffiti Editor-in-Chief Ali Taş from Antalya emphasized that they are faced with a reality in which people’s right to be informed has disappeared, and said, “I think dokuz8 fills a large gap with all the tools they use. I am very happy to be a part of this.” Local journalist Cevriye Coşkun Kayış from Bursa, and dokuz8 correspondent Fatoş Erdoğan also talked about their meeting with dokuz8NEWS and their journalism activities. Prof. Dr. Özgür Karcıoğlu and Lecturer Güventürk Görgülü, who has been involved in every project since its establishment, also mentioned the importance of alternative media and the dokuz8 in their speeches.

"DOKUZ8 WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN ELECTIONS"

HumanRights Expert Murat Çekiç, who attended the event and whose opinions we consulted, said that dokuz8 not only produced news in 7.5 years but also spent a lot of effort to train citizen journalists. Çekiç said, “We hear the news from İstanbul and Ankara in the mainstream, even in the internet media. dokuz8 is trying to inform us where the news took place. So it will also play an important role in helping us learn what happens at the local level during the election process.” Assoc. Dr. Tevfik Sönmez Küçük emphasized that dokuz8 will play an important role in ensuring the transparency of the election, especially in social media, in terms of independent and impartial news. 

Journalist and writer Doğan Satmış also reminded that newspapers and many media organs were closed and said that initiatives such as dokuz8 were successful in filling the gap. Satmış said, "The success of these initiatives means the success of independent journalism. If there were no organizations like dokuz8, we would have a lot of trouble in getting the news."

Lawyer Kemal Aytaç emphasized that everyone who calls themselves a citizen, should support this struggle that pursues the truth. SODEV President Ertan Aksoy, on the other hand, stated that the importance of the media has increased in countries like Turkey that are going through authoritarian periods, and said, "In this context, dokuz8 has vital importance. I find it remarkable that it is innovative, catches the time and its objective content."