Turkiye’s public broadcaster TRT has launched a new digital news platform, TRT Afrika, to highlight stories of and from the continent to a global audience in four languages, Swahili, English, Hausa and French on the second day of the 1st Broadcasting Summit, organized by TRT and African Union of Broadcasting (AUB). More than 50 media professionals from nearly 25 African countries attended the launching ceremony.
Turkiye’s public broadcaster TRT has launched a new digital news platform, TRT Afrika, to present stories from and about the continent to a global audience in four languages, Swahili, English, Hausa and French on the second day of the 1st Broadcasting Summit, organized by TRT and the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB). More than 50 media professionals from nearly 25 African countries attended the opening ceremony.
Aiming to make Turkiye heard with its’ international broadcasters, TRT has launched TRT Afrika after TRT World, TRT Arabi, TRT Russian, TRT Deutsch, TRT Francais and TRT Balkan, all of which individually and collectively bring diverse voices and perspectives to global audiences.
The launch ceremony of TRT Afrika, hosted by the Director General of TRT, Mehmet Zahid Sobaci on the second day of the 1st Broadcasting Summit, organized by TRT and the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), was attended by Fahrettin Altun, Director of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye, Ahmet Albayrak, Chairman of the Board of TRT, Daud Aweis Jama, Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Somalia, Gregoire Ndjaka, Chief Executive Officer of the African Union of Broadcasting, TRT management, members of the African Union of Broadcasting and representatives of the foreign mission in Istanbul, along with more than 50 media professionals from nearly 25 African countries.
Sobaci: “We continue our efforts to launch the TRT Spanish and TRT Farsi digital news platforms”
In the opening speech of the launching ceremony, the Director General of TRT Mehmet Zahid Sobaci emphasized that Africa is subjected to one-sided journalism by the Western media and said, “For years, Africa has been discussed according to the political interests of the West, ignoring the fact that the reasons for the current problems lie in colonialism. The true history, colorful culture, natural beauty and significant stories of the continent were not thoroughly told. TRT Afrika became a manifesto of Turkiye’s constructive and friendly approach, unlike Western society.”
Sobaci explains that TRT Afrika was launched with the goal of being the only platform that sees Africa as it is, and continues, “As an indication of this goal, we have set our motto “Africa as it is” Our new digital news platform will provide news to the entire continent in English, French, Hausa and Swahili. I am convinced that TRT Afrika will help improve our relationship, which has already gained remarkable momentum over the past 20 years. We also continue our efforts to launch the TRT Spanish and TRT Farsi digital news platforms.”
Director General Sobaci pointed out that the 1st Broadcasting Summit organized by TRT and the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB) is one of the most concrete examples of the improving dialog between TRT and African media institutions, saying, “An African proverb says: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.’ Today, with the 1st Broadcasting Summit, we express our will to go further together.”
Ndjaka: “TRT Afrika will reflect the facts about the continent as they are.”
Gregoire Ndjaka, CEO of the African Union of Broadcasting (AUB), also attended a TRT-AUB summit and said at the ceremony that they came together to strengthen Turkish-African relations and TRT Afrika will reflect the facts about the continent as they are: “The coverage of Africa in other parts of the world gives the impression that it is a place of conflict. We would like TRT Afrika to help us end this perception. As African journalists, we would like to thank President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his contribution to the development of relations with Africa and for his love for Africa. Because if you do not love a continent, you would not be in that continent and not visit it.”
Altun: “You will see our country’s fair approach to the continent of Africa and its peoples”
Fahrettin Altun, head of the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, said TRT Africa will be a strong addition to a global communications network and expressed confidence that it will bring an authentic perspective in the face of general perceptions of the continent and a one-sided flow of information: “You will see our country’s fair approach to the African continent of Africa and its peoples in the content and broadcast strategy of this new digital channel. Because we believe in the need to develop a new news broadcasting as an alternative to Western media’s discriminating, alienating and negative rhetoric in their coverage of Africa,” Altun said.
Altun, Sobaci and Ndjaka later joined Somalia’s Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Daud Aweis Jama, later to share the first social media messages of TRT Africa in four languages at the ceremony.
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