Communication Professionals Meet with Future Professionals at EMU

A talk titled “Special TV News Programming” took place at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Communication and Media Studies Faculty with the participation of NTV news editor, correspondents and programmer Mete Çubukçu and NTV news center cameraman Alihan Sönmez. As part of the honor and high honor certificate ceremony organized by the Radio-TV and Film Department Mete Çubukçu and Alihan Sönmez shared their experiences in the sector. The event was attended by students, research assistants and academic staff.

The opening speech at the talk was given by Vice Chair of the EMU Radio-TV and Film Department, Ahmet Goran. Goran thanked the participants for attending the event whilst Turkey is going through a chaotic and painful time. Goran also noted that more events bringing together the faculty and sector are set to take place in the upcoming days.

In his speech, Mete Çubukçu highlighted the importance of correspondents noting that “Correspondents are the keystones of this field because they know news, the field and the problems. Good correspondents can also be good presenters however good presenters can’t always be good correspondents.” Addressing journalism in two contexts, Çubukçu touched upon the existence of two fields, routine news and news programming. Stating that routine news is covered for a period of 1.5-2 minutes, Çubukçu stated that news programming can last for up to 40 minutes.

Noting that visuals are also of the utmost importance in the field, Çubukcu introduced NTV News Center cameraman Alihan Sönmez. Noting that visuals play a key role in television, Sönmez stated that a cameraman must have field experience, follow the agenda, know the history of an event and geography of a location as well as posses technical details in order to capture exactly what is happening.

During the talk in which both speakers provided information about their many experiences in the Middle East the speakers highlighted the importance of having a trustworthy crew (host, translators, drivers etc…)

After answering audience question Alihan Sönmez and Mete Çubukçu were presented gifts and plaques of appreciation. The event came to a close after the honor and high honor students from the EMU Radio-TV and Film Department were handed their certificates by academic staff members, Alihan Sönmez and Mete Çubukçu.

Visit to EMU Rector’s Office

After the talk, Mete Çubukçu and Alihan Sönmez visited the EMU Rector’s office along with acting Dean Assoc. Prof. Dr. Agah Gümüş, Department Chair Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahire Özad and Vice Chair Ahmet Goran. Meeting up with Rector Prof. Dr. Necdet Osam, the guests received information about the EMU and stated that they are very pleased at the university. During the meeting in which Prof. Dr. Özgür Eren was also present, Çubukcu and Sönmez were gifted Cypriot lefkara work with an EMU logo by Prof. Dr. Osam.