DJ Project Kick-Off Meeting was held in Selçuk University 

 

The Kick-Off meeting of the project titled "Disaster Journalism: Preventing the News from Turning into a Disaster" on May 22, 2024 was held both online and face -to -face with the broad participation of national and international participants at Konya Selçuklu University. The project, which includes universities, local governments and public institutions from different countries, especially in Türkiye, was discussed with the participation of all stakeholders.

 

"The project was born after February 6 earthquakes"

 

Prof. Dr. Abdulkadir Gölcü from Selçuk University made the opening speech of the meeting, and he said that the main starting point of the project is the earthquakes of February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaraş. Gölcü pointed out the effects of disinformation spread after disaster and underlined the critical role that disaster journalism education can play in future crises.

 

Project Objectives and Work Packages Introduced

 

Prof. Dr. Gölcü explained how the project management process will work together with RTÜK within the scope of WP1 (Work Package 1) led by Selçuk University. Then, he explained the activities to be carried out within the scope of WP2, also led by Selçuk University, and the stakeholder responsibilities in this field. Hanna Renska from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev emphasised the importance of disaster reporting for Ukraine. Stating that guidebooks will be prepared within the scope of WP3, Renska talked about the development process of these resources. Martín López Nores and Javier Abuín Penas from the University of Vigo, Spain, gave information about the digital content to be produced within the framework of Work Package 4. Nores shared their experiences in the field of video and infographics with examples from their previous projects. Penas pointed out that the disaster journalism project has similarities with the local fact-checking project they had previously completed. Afterwards, Karmen Medica from Primorska University presented suggestions for dissemination and content to be integrated into the training curriculum. She particularly emphasised the importance of focus group discussions.

 

Local Participation and Digital Platforms

 

Muhammed Esedullah Özkan and Aycan Nur Demirci from Konya Metropolitan Municipality introduced the project website within the scope of WP5 and explained the communication activities to be carried out at local level. Afterwards, representatives of RTÜK and officials from the Directorate of Communication talked about their contributions to the project in areas such as quality control, sustainability and dissemination. The last presentation of the meeting was made by Ömer Kavrar from Selçuk University. Mr Kavrar shared important points on how the project budget will be managed and utilised with the participants. The meeting ended with general evaluations after all participants were given the floor to submit their additional comments and contributions. The project aims to produce important outputs to ensure the reliability of information in times of disasters and to inform the public correctly. In this direction, a strong cooperation ground has been established between universities, media authorities and local administrations.