Turgay Yerlikaya, a Turkish researcher and writer, said, “Anadolu Agency has shown a serious struggle against the manipulations and propaganda that Turkey has been subjected to both inside and outside during the 100-year process since its founding.
“Global news agencies have taken a stance that shows that the West has a monopoly. But Anadolu Agency has largely balanced the asymmetry in the global flow of news and information made by other agencies based abroad,” said Yerlikaya.
Recalling that the active position of Anadolu Agency on social media platforms proves its strength, Yerlikaya said: “The agency has both English and Arabic Twitter accounts besides a Turkish one. This shows how strong it is as an actor in ensuring that it accurately and variously transmits information to people who speak those languages but also prevents information pollution that may occur.”
“However, that’s not enough. I believe that the stream of posts on social media platforms should be a little more diversified,” he added.
“For example, the agency should not limit its Twitter accounts to only the Turkish, English and Arabic languages. It should also have Twitter accounts in the Bosnian, Russian and Farsi languages.
“Again, broadcasting podcasts in different languages is also very important, especially in terms of keeping up with digitalization along with the pandemic,” he said.
“In the traditional sense, increasing the number of personnel in these regions, making more investments in different regions may again be one of the advantages of the agency in the pandemic process.”
[AA, April 6 2021]