Who is a journalist?
A journalist is someone who pursues the truth, who questions the truth, not power, and who can write about wrongdoing no matter who it comes from. He asks on behalf of the public, investigates on behalf of the public. His pen is as free as his conscience. Professional ethics is his compass.
So who is a troll?
A troll is a person who bends and twists the truth, speaks the language of a focus of interest, and manages perception instead of producing information. It pollutes the debate, magnifies what is convenient for it, not the facts. They may present their identity as “journalist” but their work is propaganda and discrediting.
Albert Camus said: “The oldest profession in the world is selling oneself. Confusing it with prostitution is an equally old fallacy.”
Isn't this phrase more than enough to describe the situation of some pens today?
There are some figures who appear to be journalists, especially opposition journalists... But in fact they are “executioners of dignity” who swing the sword of the circles they are funded by. So are we to call them journalists? Are they funds, partisans or trolls?
- Is a person who turns a blind eye when laborers go on strike, but who is funded by a mayor, and who publishes headline after headline when the interests of the structure he or she is affiliated with are at stake, a journalist?
- Can someone who fabricates news to discredit a politician at the bedside of his sick wife be a journalist?
- While the deaths of women and children, and the real problems shaking society, is it journalism to give a “pass interview” to a provincial chairman with pre-prepared questions?
- What profession do those who pose at raki tables and wear the mask of “Kemalist values” instead of speaking out for the voices of municipality workers who are being harassed represent? Are they journalists or trolls?
- Do these devil's advocates, who hurl the heaviest insults at those they called “father” yesterday and change direction according to the wind, have anything to do with journalism?
Journalism requires character and backbone.
Trolling is often tied to payroll, chain of command and vested interests.
So let's ask the question clearly:
Are we going to call these people, whose ties to professional ethics and human dignity have been severed and whose pens have been rented, journalists or trolls?
The answer is actually very clear:
The journalist is on the side of truth.
The troll is the “so-called truth” of the party it is funded by”