Web project to monitor Turkish election campaign via independent reports

ÇAĞLA PINAR TUNÇEL

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A group of Istanbul Bilgi University students have launched a web project to allow “citizen journalists” to report on the 2011 election campaign across the country.

The website, https://secim2011.crowdmap.com/, is a Turkish version of the Ushahidi website which uses the concept of crowdsourcing via multiple channels, including SMS, email, Twitter and the Internet, to provide citizens with a platform to upload their own instant media independently of mainstream networks.

“Our website allows the public to reach [campaign] reports in the easiest way,” media and communications student Metin Özer recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Regarding recent protests in Taksim Square against plans to increase filters against the Internet, Erkan Saka, an academic at the university’s Media and Communication Systems Department, told the Daily News that because no political parties were front and center during the demonstrations, it suggested that citizens were now experiencing a period of real activism and that such anti-censorship movements provided an example of mass collaboration.

“Turkish websites have become a refuge where hate speech or censorship is often protested [as evidenced by the] thousands who gathered in Taksim Square [earlier in May to demand a free Internet],” Saka said, adding that the group had launched the project not simply due to the protest but also because the website could be useful in promoting more productive uses of information technology.

Emphasizing the importance of the website, Özer said the project was a mission to support local journalism. The mainstream media collects its news from the wires, but it takes too long to format the information and post it for the public, he added.

“[The] purpose was to develop a collective mind through social media,” Saka said.

“And our subject was right out in the open as well because the general elections are approaching,” he said.

“Many projects were suggested, and we decided to choose Ushahidi since that website was the best in the literature,” said the scholar, noting that the university’s site was helping to created “citizen journalism.”

Speaking about the trustworthiness of the website, Saka said the group edited the reports in a two-stage system. “After the proofreading step, we basically confirm the news either by using other wires or the website the user has given as a source.”

Challenging mainstream media

Saka said he believed the website, which receives reports from around Turkey, would provide increased transparency in the media.

“In some circumstances, the mainstream media may miss a report such as the rally of an independent deputy candidate, but citizens, essentially acting as reporters, are able to follow and capture the scene,” he said.

“Among many agencies which provide reports from all around Turkey, the website plays a role as an independent resource,” the academic said.

In addition to the campaign period, Saka said the website also aimed to monitor the elections themselves, given past problems. “We will learn the truth through the website whether people find proper [voting places] in [the southeastern province of] Şırnak.”

Results to be used as academic research

Saka said the project was not only useful in creating collective mind but would also benefit academic research. “Once the project bears fruit, academics will use the statistics as a resource for their research.”

Based on the ratings for the news links, the frequency of the reports and which locations were most reported upon, academics will be able to analyze the phenomenon from a variety of different angles, from how people participated in the elections to how social media is used in politics, Saka said, adding that the project would also indicate the reliability of independent media.

The official U.S. Voice of America radio station is also a media partner of the project, according to a press release.

via Web project to monitor Turkish election campaign via independent reports – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.