First Article, My Behind

Monday morning was great.

I took the 8:15 a.m. bus from Tuksim to the media building. I left Rogers because I wanted to work for a small publication and it turns out that I work for a company that owns 70% of all the media in Turkey.

I meet the editor in chief, David and have a rather interesting and long talk with him. He is disappointed that a Turkish newspaper, also published by the same company, published an article in Q&A format. Basically, the reporter played back her tape recorder. This is something you see in magazines, not newspapers.

I was asked to write an article out of this interview. I was so excited! My first job! Another intern was going to translate everything for me (the interview was long) and I was going to write it.

10000 characters (they use characters not words) that's about 1200 words.

The Q&A was with a businessman who started a company along with a number of tradesmen to try to compete in the market against hypermarkets, which are expending rapidly in Eastern Europe. And he's also running in the upcoming elections.

So, I do research about the industry. Find out how much of the market these hypermarkets take up. Find out how it all works and how Turkey's economy works.

I write a completely different lede and introduction and focus on how these small people are taking on this huge giant.

The language I use was not in the article.

I only used quotes.

I even stayed really late on Monday to finish it. It was going to be in the Wednesday's paper - and it was.

Tuesday comes and I see the article on the production board. I take a look at it and notice that my byline is not there. The Q&A person's byline is there. Not mine. There is no credit to me at all.

I immediately raise this with my editor and she asked if I did extra research: yes.
Did I write a new article: yes
Did I use the quotes: yes

Well, then it's her article, not yours.

WHAT?!

Then I asked if we can put in, with interview provided by this writer? No.
Then can I get credit? No.

Her excuse was that if I want to be an editor, I'm gonna have to get used to this. Fixing people's articles.

Except, I didn't fix the Q&A. If I was given the translation and fixed that, then that would be her article.

I took the interview and wrote an article from it focusing on a specific topic. There was a narrative, there was a focus, there was everything that the Q&A was missing.

I understand if she wrote this first and I fixed it into better English. That's fine.

But these are my words. NOT HERS.

I lost the battle. Sat at my desk and tears filled my eyes. I felt like Samantha in Sex and the City when for the very first time she cried because she thought she lost a battle against the "men."

I lost the battle against the "men" being the Turkish media.

I'm going to be swolled up whole.

I'm going to a press conference tomorrow and will be writing an article. Watch that be credited to someone else.

You can read "my article" - and I am still saying it is mine - go right ahead and tell me that the editor was right, that it was the original writers, but if you say that, I'm going to make you read the Turkish version and then come back to me.

Local tradesmen want to take on Metro.

I do welcome comments and criticisms. Tell me what you thought of it.