The ethics and public phenomenon in the health journalism in Turkey

Ethics and public welfare are the most important and even indispensable facts for journalism. Ethical and public welfare phenomenon have more importance in health journalism, which is one of the specialization fields of journalism. Because the point in question is health and wrong information can cause significant health problems and may even endanger human life. At this point, it is the ethical responsibility of the journalist to make health journalism within the framework of correct and specific principles. Specializing in health journalism is deemed as a useful step in fulfilling this ethical responsibility. Specialist health messengers play an important role in avoiding misinformation by sensational news, for the sake of tabloidiz health news, rating or "hit rate". However, the difficulties faced by the health reporters in the process of news preparation may damage the ethics of health news. In the first chapter of the four-chapters research, news and health concepts were discussed and definitions were made. In the second chapter, health journalism is examined in detail, the topics of health journalism and the sources of health journalist were investigated. The importance of specialization in health journalism, the use of language, the problems faced by the health reporter, health literacy were evaluated with reviewing literature. In the third chapter, the ethics and public welfare phenomenon in the health journalism which is the title of the research was examined. The last section of employees in national media organizations in Turkey and health reporter who are specialists in health journalism were interviewed and questions were asked in order to learn the implications of ethics and public welfare phenomenon on their professional experience in health journalism.