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Social Responsibility and Environmental Activities
A Human Rights Journey on RailsRunning the “No to Domestic Violence!” campaign successfully for fve years generated a considerable level of awareness about this particular problem often chosen to be ignored by the society. For Hürriyet, 2008 was a very signifcant year as the Company’s 60th Anniversary called for a social responsibility initiative ftting for its history, wealth of experience, and the standing it has achieved over the years. As 2008 was also the 60th Anniversary of United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the project that would register this meaningful coincidence to the social agenda through a meaningful union was born: “Liberty is our Right.”. The “No to Domestic Violence!” campaign actually already dealt with a human rights issue. The two social responsibility felds overlapped with each other excellently in this projectthat embraced the entire country under the helm of the Hürriyet Corporate Communication Coordination Unit. Run with a huge train flled with many participants that stopped at 45 cities with railway connections in 45 days. The “Liberty is our Right/Train is Freedom” project involved many frsts: » This was the frst project of such scope conducted jointly by a large private media company and a large public company, Turkish State Railways (TCDD). The two organizations have shown society that successful collaborations were possible in the feld of social responsibility, shedding light on the way forward for future works. » The initial steps were taken with this project to establish a frmer relationship between national media and Anatolia that had not been fully achieved so far. A closer association was thus built with both the local media and local readers. » Over 100,000 people were reached through face-to-face meetings, publications and distributed materials. The highly essential concept of “rights” remained on the agenda and the cities’ opinions about the issue were gauged. What needed to be done was identifed and the frst drafts of subsequent road maps were drawn. » The question of human rights, always addressed within a political framework so far, was dealt with as an inherent and common requirement of our daily lives and our future. Taking Hürriyet across Turkey, from Kars to Edirne In Turkey, the common practice is to travel from west to east in such projects. The “Liberty is our Right Project,” however, started from the easternmost corner of Turkey, proceeding from east to west. Setting of from Kars, the train completed its journey in Edirne, a journey of 10,000 kilometers in 45 days. Holding activities in a diferent city each day, it brought unseen masses to the railway stations with Akbank Children’s Theater plays, Amnesty International workshops, “No to Domestic Violence!” and human rights seminars, Konda surveys, exhibitions and public concerts. Comprising 15 coaches, the train, 340 meters in length, was greeted with jubilation wherever it went. It generated a childlike joy among people due to the nostalgia for trains, while it brought together people with non-governmental organizations and local authorities, and created awareness of human rights and domestic violence issues. Two editorial meetings of Hüriyet, one in Erzurum and one in Diyarbakir, were held during the journey, on the Conference Coach of the Turkish State railways. All activities were covered widely on Hürriyet’s pages everyday and their impact expanded from one city’s station to the country as a whole. At the end of the journey, there were photography exhibitions held about the project; the book Upuzuuun Bir Hürriyet Yolculuğu (A Looong Journey to Liberty) was published and a documentary flm of the same title was made and screened during the 28th International Istanbul Film Festival. A Message on Living Together the “liberty is our Right train” was very long, colorful and crowded, ofering a 340-meter-long and three-meter-wide living and working space, a total of 1014 square meters. eighty people worked on board the train, each playing an important role on the rails. the Hürriyet Corporate Communication team enabled everyone on board to work in harmony for the realization of the project they developed and conducted the relations in the cities visited. they hosted government ofcials, non-governmental organization representatives and politicians visiting the train. State Railways personnel had a multi-faceted role extending from ensuring a safe journey for the train to promotion of the railways and facilitating life on the rails. CNN türk has brought the entire journey to tV screens, with live broadcasts, or interviews and special reports. Akbank Children’s theater created a human rights manifesto from Anatolian tales and educated children while entertaining them. While informing children and young people about their rights, Amnesty international found out how they perceived those rights and brought them to the forefront of turkey’s agenda. Mimar Sinan University’s photography Department and documentary crew preserved this long tour for all time with their photographs and flms. Staf of Konda Araştırma ve Danışmanlık (Konda Research) measured the perception of rights among women in the cities visited and publicized the survey’s results. trainers on domestic violence and human rights talked about our rights with women, men, children, and the elderly. One of the signifcant achievements of the project was demonstrating that 80 people that difered in their political views, sexual orientation, education, economic status, and practically everything else, could live together in peace albeit in such a cramped space. even this fact, all by itself, was a remarkable message Hürriyet conveyed to the public. Expanding the “No to Domestic Violence!” Campaign Elif Dürüst and Sirin Yalcin, founders of Arahk (Opening)
Elif Dürüst and Sirin Yalcin, founders of Arahk (Opening) Association donned the t-shirts İpekyol designed for “End Domestic Violence!” campaign. Hürriyet’s “No to Domestic Violence!” campaign went full steam ahead in 2008 as it entered its ffth year. The visibility of the frst and only “Hotline for Domestic Violence” serving 24/7 uninterruptedly since October 15, 2007 has been enhanced. The number of calls to the Hotline reached 12,000 and the number of women victims of domestic violence who received assistance rose to 4,000. The number of women whose lives were saved increased each day. The “No to Domestic Violence!” expanded “outwards” in 2008, by starting to receive support from other organizations. İpekyol started to design and sell t-shirts on domestic violence. Penti printed the Hotline number and information on the campaign on all its hosiery packaging, reaching millions of women. Troya pledged to donate a part of its ticket sales from the show to ensure the sustainability of the Hotline. Hürriyet Corporate Communication Coordination Department continues its eforts to increase the number of sponsors. Social Investment Strategy Taking these projects together, one can clearly see Hürriyet’s social investment strategy. Because the greatest distinction of a newspaper from other products is the power to create a social impact, it is only natural that Hürriyet’s social investments focus on remedying the defciencies in society. These two projects that will continue in the years ahead are examples of this approach. As in all other felds, when change is afoot in the feld of Corporate Social Responsibility; the underlying mentality is transformed. Social Responsibility eforts are no longer seen as a kind of promotion work to boost the Company’s prestige. Large Western corporations recognize that they can only survive as long as the societies that enabled their existence and growth continue to develop. They are aware they should perform their responsibilities vis-a-vis the society in a sincere and sustainable manner. Hürriyet recognizes this as well. Social Responsibility through Songs In another frst-time initiative, the campaign had published the album Güldünya Şarkıları (Songs of Güldünya, named after domestic violence victim, Güldünya Tören). Thirteen famous female vocalists consented to sing in order to call for an “No to Domestic Violence!” Songs were selected meticulously and with its sleek design, remarkable messages and high musicality, the CD was released with DMC label on November 25, 2008, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is still on sale. The sales fgures exceeded 35,000. With Sezen Aksu, Ajda Pekkan, Nazan Öncel, Emel Müftüoğlu, Aynur, Zuhal Olcay, Aylin Aslım, Nilüfer, Şebnem Ferah, Şevval Sam, Rojin, Ayten Alpman and Funda Arar each contributing a song to the album; Sezen Aksu put her endorsement with the piece she wrote for the CD booklet, alongside her vocals. Nazan Öncel, Ajda Pekkan and Şevval Sam ofered their brand new songs. Others have breathed new life into each others’ songs with a new interpretation. Alongside the singers, arrangers, composers and lyricists, photographers and publicists were also mobilized for the album. Each song narrated a diferent kind of violence against women or a woman’s revulsion and defance against violence. There is the story of a Kurdish girl married to someone against her will, and the agony of a woman who experiences the violence of her love, alongside Güldünya who pleaded her brother “not to shoot her,” Leyla the gastarbeiter’s daughter beaten by the police, the Match Girl bidding farewell to her love, the woman with overburdened but with no say over her life, or who wants to live ”what comes after yesterday before tomorrow,” who wants to ”start over” from scratch... Bringing these female vocalists together for the frst time, all proceeds from the album are donated to Aralık Association as project partners to ensure the sustainability of the hotline. Nevertheless, the sole aim of this initiative is not raising funds for the hotline. At the same time, Güldünya Şarkıları is a work that keeps the reality of violence constantly on the agenda, and continues to create awareness. |
