The Perception of Reporting and Self Censorship of the Press Members: The Example of Cyprus Turkish Journalists

In our day, it is discussed whether or not the media serves it is function of announcing the news about government performances (actions) and legal arrangements (setting) which are directly related to the society. In this discussion, the topics of censorship and auto censorship heavily appear. As it is well known, censorship is generally handled as a common problem arising from the hierarchical structure. In a more general definition, it is thought of a result of a downward pressure from several power centres. When looked at from an individual perspective though, the concept of auto censorship manifests itself as a form of censorship in which an individual applies censorship to him/herself without the need for a pressure from above. According to this definition, auto censorship is the reckoning of the journalist with him/herself, and after balancing the public benefits and personal harms of a texts he/she wants to write, making a decision not to write it (Kizil, 1998, p 27 - 28). In this study, it is aimed to bring to light the role of auto censorship during the course of pressmen s communication of the information they gathered and their own opinions with the society. With this aim, face to face interviews have been carried out with ten pressmen working in the capital of TRNC, Nicosia, by using semi structured question forms. Half of the participants have been chosen among the public sector and the remaining half from the private sector. The data obtained from the interviews and observations have been analysed. Various findings have been put forward about the attitudes and behaviours of pressmen toward auto censorship during their working hours, whether they were using the mechanism of auto censorship or not, and if they were using the mechanism of auto censorship, what was the extent and frequency of it.

Keywords:

Freedom of the press , Censorship , Self Censorship , Newspaper , Press Member