The media mill has been raging since the deadly suicide attack in the Turkish city of Suruc last week. Tearful photos emerged from the mass funeral service of more than thirty young victims, while world leaders condemned the attack and the Turkish government vowed to step up border control from neighboring Syria.
On social media was an outpour of support for the slain student activists, with users sharing photos and tweets of the deceased. The problem was that some who appeared in the images weren't actually casualties of the attack.
After the blast, Madershahi Barajyikan posted a photo on Twitter of herself and two other women in commemoration of the attack.
Böyle kutlamıştık baraj zaferimizi. Ben gelemedim. Sen gittin. Hoşçakal yoldaşım Ezgi. And olsun unutmayacağım. pic.twitter.com/J9awugPeMh
— maderşahî barajyıkan (@dilrike) July 20, 2015
The photo was quickly picked up by media outlets in Turkey and across the world, saying all the women had been killed in the blast, and the image captured the moments before it all happened. Users had been sharing ones like it all week. Only this one was actually taken a month before at a different rally.
In fact, Barajikan, who originally posted the photo and is pictured in front, was not even in the Suruc crowd that day. Instead, she had posted the photo in remembrance of her friend who had gone to the rally and died in the blast.
But a media frenzy was already mistakedly proclaiming her as a victim.
On her Twitter account, she clarified after one journalist named her among the dead: "I am the one standing in the front. Most of the people in this photo are still alive, they have families and loved ones. Please delete the tweet you've carelessly shared."
And later, upon further requests from journalists:
To all journalists who want to talk with me about explosion in Suruç: I didin't go Suruç and i am not an answerer. Contact with @sgdf_basin
— maderşahî barajyıkan (@dilrike) July 21, 2015
Turkey temporarily shut down Twitter amid all the confusion. And while that's a step toward impeding the media that's more uncomfortable than effective, journalists should take away a different, familiar message — social media is not always what it first seems.
