Bailie, M., & Azgin, B. (2011).

Brief history of Turkish Cypriot Journalism Education Turkish Cypriot journalism education is a relatively new phenomenon. Until the 1970s, anyone (usually male) with an interest in newspapers, could either work for a newspaper or, in rarer cases, start a newspaper of their own. Newspapers proliferated in the Turkish Cypriot community although many of them were short-lived due to economic strain or simply loss of interest in the enterprise. Beginning in the early 1970s the Turkish Cypriot newspaper industry saw the first graduates from universities in Turkey although the majority of journalists without a university education remained high. It was not until the mid-1990s that Turkish Cypriot universities began offering four year journalism degrees. The first program was offered at Lefke European University in 1994 followed by Eastern Mediterranean University in 1996, Near East University and Girne American University in 1997 and Cyprus International University in 1998. Today, five Turkish Cypriot universities grant Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Journalism. While this has lead to an increase in the number of women entering the field of journalism (over fifty percent of the workforce in 2008), the so-called glass ceiling persists with a complete absence of women in upper-decision making positions and with no women owning a newspaper or radio or television station. Turkish Cypriot Journalism Education Today1 Turkish 45% 98% No Data 73% No Data Turkish Cypriot 50% 02% No Data 27% No Data Other Countries 05% 0% No Data 0% No Data Female 55% 35% No Data 40% 40% Male 45% 65% No Data 60% 60% Total Currently Enrolled 108 131 No Data 180 200

EMU CIU LEU NEU GAU

There are five Turkish Cypriot universities offering four year undergraduate degrees in journalism: Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU), Cyprus International University (CIU), Lefke European University (LEU), Near East University (NEU), and Girne American University (GAU). All five programs offer a selection of Faculty core courses in communication and media studies (including communication history, theory and research), Department core courses in journalism theory, history and practice, and Departmental elective courses that have strong practical applications. Only the Eastern Mediterranean University offers a program with a liberal-arts orientation where students take university-wide compulsory courses in areas that include physics, math, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and the arts. With the exception of EMU, all other Journalism programs include compulsory courses in public relations and advertising. Four Year Turkish Cypriot University Journalism Programs: Area Focus Percentages Liberal Arts EMU CIU LEU NEU GAU 25% n/a n/a n/a n/a Faculty Core 25% 50% 50% 65% 50% Department Core 30% 30% 30% 35% 30% Department Electives 20% 20% 20% n/a 20% Internship Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Data provided by the respective Journalism Departments

Sources of Journalism education Turkish Cypriot journalism education is conducted at the five Turkish Cypriot universities. There are no pre-university or technical school training courses available. Type of Faculty/Instructors Turkish Cypriot journalism programs have been historically housed in faculties of communication and media studies. Faculties house departments of journalism, radio-television and film, public relations and advertising, and visual arts and communication. While CIU, LAU, NEU, and GAU offer programs that consist of a mixture of faculty and department courses (that include courses in public relations and advertising as part of their required courses), EMU has opted for a mix between general education (including sciences, math, liberal arts), faculty core courses, departmental courses and electives. EMU journalism students are not required to take courses in public relations and advertising although they may choose to broaden their understanding of the market-orientation of their profession through the elective track. While core faculty members hold doctoral degrees, there has been a history of inviting professionals from the industry to share knowledge and experience with journalism students. EMU, for example, has invited journalists concerned with the promotion of peace communication to offer specialized courses to journalism students and to promote awareness of the process of investigative journalism (this is especially important on an island where the tendency is to rely too heavily, perhaps, on official sources comprising of government press releases and the semi-official TAK news agency). Internships of between 6 and 8 weeks are required of all journalism students and must be completed prior to graduation. The goal of the internship program is to give students opportunities to experience current practices in newspapers and other news media, to enhance their chances of making contacts in the field, and to assist them in gaining the knowledge they will need to secure positions within the industry. The program also provides a space for probing the differences between theory and practice as students encounter the limitations and possibilities of working in commercial, non-profit and public media outlets. All of the Turkish Cypriot faculties of communication and media studies have in-house student newspapers that are usually published bi-monthly and radio stations where journalism students can practice both print and broadcast journalism. EMU, NEU and GAU also have television stations that provide journalism students with additional opportunities to practice their art. A unique aspect of EMUs department of journalism is that students are required to take courses in online journalism and to produce an online faculty newspaper. EMUs liberal arts orientation reflects its interest in joining the Bologna process. EMU has been engaged in a three year bid for acceptance into the process although at the time of writing EMU has yet to succeed in gaining entrance. Ironically, while Turkish Cypriot students are recognized as EU citizens, Turkish Cypriot universities are not eligible for membership. Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot students are excluded from participation in ERASMUS and other EU institutional educational programs. Importantly, the International Crisis Group report (2008) has recognized this problem and included in its report a recommendation that Greek Cypriot embargoes on Turkish Cypriot involvement in international sporting activities, cultural exchanges and adhesion to European University programs like the Bologna process could be lifted. (p. 9). The emphasis in Turkish Cypriot journalism education is on combining journalism theory, professional practices and engagement with new technologies of communication although at the Faculty core level, courses tend to focus on theories of media and society with an emphasis on understanding the relationship between media, images, words and the production and circulation of information in shaping cultural, social, political and economic environments. Due to the specific historical and political circumstances that confront Turkish Cypriot students and potential journalists, there is an overt attempt to sensitize journalism students to the importance of language as a tool for promoting understanding, empathy and cooperation juxtaposed to the reactionary and sensational emphasis that can often be found in mainstream reporting. Currently degrees in journalism are offered at the BA level in all five universities and students may continue in their studies to the MA and PhD level at EMU and NEU. At EMU, the MA and PhD are research oriented thesis and dissertation programs in communication and media studies and may have an

emphasis in journalism depending upon the students area of focus. At NEU the MA program is housed in the department of journalism whereas the doctoral program is faculty wide. The MA and Doctoral level tend to be more theoretical and focused on examining the relationship between journalists and journalism at the local, national and international/global level. Duration of studies BA programs in Journalism are conducted over a four year (8 semesters) period, MA programs generally consist of one year of course work with between one and three years for the completion of the thesis. PhD programs include one year of course work with from 3 to 5 years of supervision to complete the dissertation. At EMU doctoral candidates are required to publish at least one article in a social science indexed journal prior to defending their doctoral dissertation. Continuing education programs There are no continuing education programs in journalism. Accreditation Turkish Cypriot university journalism programs are accredited by YODAK (The Turkish Cypriot Local Higher Education Accreditation Institute) and YOK (Turkish Higher Education Institution). Associations EMUs Faculty of Communication and Media Studies is a member of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) listed under the category of Turkey and EMU and NEU are members of the European University Association (EUA) under the category of Other. All Turkish Cypriot journalism departments are members of the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Union and/or the Turkish Cypriot Journalists Association. Analysis and Future of Turkish Cypriot Journalism Education Little systematic investigative scholarship has been conducted on the role of the Turkish Cypriot media. Without a clearer understanding of exactly how the Turkish Cypriot press currently operates, it is difficult to ascertain the current strengths and weaknesses of journalism on the island or to prescribe pedagogical interventions that might increase the capacity of journalists to intervene as social actors in promoting more democratic society. In one recent study (Bailie & Azgin, 2008), a picture emerges of an antagonistic Turkish and Greek Cypriot media landscape where contemporary journalistic routines and practices discourage journalists from broaching the divided Cypriot community and establishing dialogue with their other. Furthermore, sensationalism as a priority news value (Wolfsfeld, 2004) is the norm in Turkish Cypriot journalism. It is rare to find stories that encourage empathy with the Greek Cypriot community or that increase understanding in the Turkish Cypriot community of the complex problems that have to be faced if resolution to the division of the island is to be found. This journalistic unwillingness to empathetically seek out the stories of the other giving voice to the Greek Cypriot partner community is something that Turkish Cypriot journalism education will have to take seriously. The point was made succinctly in the recent (2008) International Crisis Group (ICG) report entitled Best chance for a solution since 1974. The ICG report insists that due to total lack of communication and media vilification, Cypriots have hostile, outdated and misleading images of each other ( p. 8). The report also makes a connection between lack of communication and over-reliance on media as vehicles for information when it argues that: These two parties barely know each other, having not talked for 40 years, and are all too ready to believe extremist rhetoric in nationalist media (p. i). Communication scholars Morley and Robins (1995) have argued similarly and in a global context insisting that . . . the further the event from our own direct experience, the more we depend on media images for the totality of our knowledge (p. 133). Turkish Cypriot journalism education has to engage this problem seriously and work with the premise that change is not only possible, but inevitable if journalists are to play a productive and pro-reconciliation role in Cyprus. As accented by Manoff (1998): . . . journalism is a specific social practice that has a history,

and . . . this history is one of unending social invention. In other words, in discussing media and conflict issues, it is important not to fall prey to an a-historical essentialism that presumes that todays form of journalism is, or ought to be, tomorrows (http://www.ccr.uct.ac.za/archive/two/7_4/p11_roleplays.html) Turkish Cypriot journalism education, as with its Greek Cypriot counterpart, cannot escape the complexities of life in the Cypriot communities and is, to a large extent, held hostage to the ever shifting boundaries that make up each sides national struggle as expressed in the political spheres of each community. This is a broad cross-community concern that university journalism curricula must highlight in order to encourage an increase in the range or scope of journalistic critical thought to be able to think outside the box. McChesney (2008) makes this point well when arguing that Journalism today has much more in common with the elites it supposedly regulates than with the public on whose behalf it supposedly speaks. (p. 71). Overcoming this tendency in professional journalism is not an easy task and ultimately means learning to challenge the mundane, taken-for-granted routines that limit both the journalists world view and her sources; encouraging journalists to seek information from beyond the usual suspects which includes entrenched political parties and their leaders, government officials and other elites; to accentuate the many-sidedness of each issue; to encourage deeper understanding of the historical context within which contemporary dramas are enacted daily; and to act as a vehicle for the sharing of concerns from a much broader base of respondents especially women, who are severely under-represented in daily news. Gender sensitization is another crucial area that needs to be further encouraged in journalism education both in terms of scholarship and in terms of media practices. Certainly developments in feminist media theory (Riordan, 2004; Roach, 1993; Sreberny, 2005) highlight the importance of recognizing the value of women both as producers of knowledge and as participants in shaping the social, political and economic spheres. Turkish Cypriot Universities and Addresses At this time all Turkish Cypriot universities are listed Via Mersin 10, Turkey because all forms of communication including telephone, internet and surface mail, are routed through Turkey. Cyprus International University, Via Mersin 10, Turkey Eastern Mediterranean University, Via Mersin 10, Turkey Girne American University, Via Mersin 10, Turkey Lefke European University, Via Mersin 10, Turkey Near East University, Via Mersin 10, Turkey www.ciu.edu.tr www.emu.edu.tr www.gau.edu.tr www.lefke.edu.tr www.neu.edu.tr

References Bailie, M. & Azgin, B. (2008). A barricade, a bridge and a wall: Cypriot journalism and the mediation of conflict in Cyprus. Cyprus Review, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Forthcoming). Evripidou, S. (Cyprus Mail, 2008, June 24th). Best chance for a solution since 1974. http://www.cyprusmail.com/news International Crisis Group (June 23, 2008). Reunifying Cyprus: The best chance yet. Europe Report No. 194, pp. 1 34. Accessed June 25th 2008 from: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5502&l=1 Manoff, R. (1998). Role plays: Potential media roles in conflict prevention and management Track Two, Vol. 7 No. 4. http://www.ccr.uct.ac.za/archive/two/7_4/p11_roleplays.html McChesney, R. W. (2008). The political economy of media: Enduring issues, emerging dilemmas . New York: Monthly Review Press Morley, D. and Robins, K. (1995). Spaces of identity: Global media, electronic landscapes and cultural boundaries. New York: Routledge Roach, C. (1993). Feminist peace researchers, culture, and communication. In Colleen Roach (Ed.). Communication and culture in war and peace. London: Sage. pp. 175 191. Reordan, E. (2004). Feminist theory and the political economy of communication. In Andrew Calabrese and Colin Sparks (Eds.). Toward a political economy of culture: Capitalism and communication in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, pp. 342 356.

Sreberny, A. (2005). Globalization, Communication, democratization: Toward gender equality. In Robert A. Hackett and Yuezhi Zhao (Eds.). Democratizing global media: One world, many struggles. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Sunday Mail (2008, June 22nd). Tales from the Coffee Shop. The alley-cat who loves a public spat. http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news Wolfsfeld, G. (2004). Media and the path to peace. UK: Cambridge University