Turkish state broadcaster ‘disturbed’ over woman fan caught on camera

Turkey’s state-run sports broadcaster TRT Sport called the moment its cameras caught a cheering woman audience member a “disturbing” and “unwanted” incident. The “incident” took place during the Turkish National Women’s Volleyball Team’s match against the USA.

Wednesday June 05 2024 06:31 pm

Duvar English

The sports channel of Turkey’s state-run broadcaster TRT on June 3 released a statement regarding a moment caught during its live broadcast of the Turkish national women’s volleyball team’s match in Texas, the United States.

A woman audience member appeared on camera, cheering on after the Turkish team scored a point during the game against the US team in the Volleyball Nations League on June 2.

TRT commented on the image as the brief moment gained attention on social media.

Kamuoyuna saygı ile duyururuz👇 pic.twitter.com/yhpxu0z3QO
— TRT Spor (@trtspor) June 3, 2024

TRT Spor’s statement sought to disassociate from the footage, saying the match was broadcast live by the American broadcaster “without any possibility of intervention."

The channel deemed the celebrating woman “an unwanted image,” and a “disturbing situation.”

“This image, which is completely contrary to our broadcasting policy, originated from the American broadcaster, and our discomfort with this situation has been conveyed to them," concluded the message.

According to the channel’s statement, a six-second footage of a woman celebrating a sports victory was against the broadcasting policy of a sports channel.

Such signaling from a state channel criminalizes the female body in public media and draws arbitrary borders around an "acceptable" female presence on television.