Polat Bakırtaş, a graduate of Istanbul Gelisim University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Communication and Design, continues his career as a News Producer at 24TV. Our dear graduate Polat Bakırtaş shared his career journey with us.

The Journey from Intern to Producer

Our graduate Polat Bakırtaş shared that he started his career at 24TV as a sound intern in the control room and gradually advanced step by step. He mentioned that during his internship, he assisted in organizing the necessary sounds for the broadcast on the soundboard. Towards the last two weeks of his internship, to satisfy his curiosity, he transitioned to other units, gaining experience alongside graphic designers and the news editing team.

From Editing to Producing

Our dear graduate Polat Bakırtaş explained that he started working in the news editing department on a trial basis and realized he was more talented in this department, leading to his hiring as an editor. In this department, he edited news stories written by editors using footage from agencies or the archive. The news he edited started to be broadcasted after passing through the chief’s control. As his proficiency with the video archive increased and he adapted to the channel's broadcast policy, he was promoted to news producer.

The Nuances of News Producing

Bakırtaş stated, “Producer is actually the English term for ‘yapımcı,’ but the producer profile we envision is somewhat different in news channels,” and he explained the nuances of the profession as follows:

“Producers are more responsible for ensuring that the news made complies with broadcast rules and are responsible for every piece of news given on screen during their bulletin hour. Additionally, if there are broadcast guests in the bulletin flow, the topic to be discussed before the live broadcast is communicated to the producer by the editor, and the producer prepares suitable visuals for the topic. There may also be reporter connections. If the connection is in a pre-recorded form, referred to as ‘bant,’ it is our responsibility to prepare it. There can also be breaking news during the bulletin, and it is our job to quickly prepare and air the visuals for breaking news. In short, just as the control room editor, who we know as the person who organizes the broadcast flow, contributes to the bulletin in writing, the news producer handles the visual side of this task. The news producer works in close coordination with the control room editor.”

Daily Routine and Responsibilities

Polat Bakırtaş mentioned that he is responsible for preparing four bulletins each weekday and detailed this topic. He expressed that he starts his mornings by opening the agencies to follow the agenda and determining the footage to be used throughout the day. He added that he uses a program called Cinegy to edit and archive the footage from agencies. He said he attends daily meetings with news directors to plan the flow of the broadcast bulletins. He prepares the bulletins under his responsibility, enters the control room, and manages the broadcast process.

Challenges and the Importance of Following the Agenda

Bakırtaş summarized one of the challenges of working in a news center as having to constantly follow the agenda. He emphasized the difficulties of his job by stating, “sometimes you have to follow news about a topic you’re not interested in at all".

We congratulate our dear student Polat Bakırtaş and wish him continued success.