While some say there is nothing to defend because it limits the freedom of the media, others complain about an unprincipled approach among the critics of the Prime Ministry's accreditation practice because the same people remained silent for years in the wake of the General Staff's accreditation practice. "As a person who is against the accreditation practice no matter which institution implements it, I have to admit that I did not find the Prime Ministry's accreditation move a right one. No matter what the reason behind it, it is a wrong decision," says Star's Şamil Tayyar. He acknowledges that the accreditation practice is a general problem in the Turkish media and that many other institutions from the General Staff to the Republican People's Party (CHP) approve of it.
"What is saddening here is the fact that media institutions see the problem only from the government's perspective. Behaving as if only the government implements the accreditation practice is not a well-intentioned act and is a double standard," Tayyar says. In his view, media institutions should oppose the accreditation practice no matter which institution implements it and stand up for their colleagues who become victims of this practice.
"I have to admit that media institutions have failed in the accreditation test. That is why their reactions now are not met with respect," Tayyar says. In addition, he thinks that the Prime Ministry's accreditation move and the debates sparked by it could lead to something positive, and he urges the media to analyze themselves. "Let's raise our voices to accreditation, let's reveal our anger; however, media institutions should tidy themselves, and the principles of the profession should not be relaxed for certain institutions or people, and injustices should not be handled according to the ideological tendencies of the institutions implementing the accreditation practice," Tayyar says.
Sabah's Ergun Babahan talks about the advice that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave to US President-elect Barack Obama in an interview with The New York Times and considers what Obama would advise Erdoğan if he were to do the same thing. According to Babahan, first Obama would tell Erdoğan that revoking the accreditation of reporters was not a solution. "Reporters are people who suffer the most from the difficult circumstances of journalism. Those who follow prime minister in particular work day and night. They could certainly have made mistakes. Who has not made any mistakes? Because of this, Obama would possibly say punishing the reporters is not the right method," says Babahan, adding that it is better for those who give advice to look at themselves first and correct their actions.
According to Hürriyet's Ferai Tınç, accreditation is not a work permit granted to journalists by institutions that can be revoked at any time. She says no institution has the right to turn the accreditation system into a melting mechanism of journalists and that those journalists do not report their news in compliance with their criteria. In this regard, she appreciates the Vatan daily, which did not change its reporter though the Prime Ministry demanded his replacement, saying that the Hürriyet daily should have acted the same way.
