January 22, 2015 STAFF/STU

Today: The Significance of Media Freedom for Democracy

On Thursday, January 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Dolan Science Center Room A202/3, bring your lunch to hear Ms. Sevgi Akarcesme, columnist and senior editor for Zaman, Turkey’s largest newspaper speak on “The Significance of Media Freedom for Democracy.”

Turkey has long been a beacon of democracy in the Islamic World. However, a corruption scandal has recently shaken the nation, causing the government to clampdown on the Internet, Twitter, and other social media sites while imprisoning journalists on charges of terrorism and in so doing, testing the boundaries of Turkish civil society. Ms. Akarcesme will discusses how this situation is being portrayed in the media and its potential effects on Turkey’s foreign policy and the country’s relationships with the Middle East and in the United States.

For more information, please visit http://sites.jcu.edu/nursichair/2015/01/15/the-significance-of-media-freedom-for-democracy/.