trans employment

IMC TV Statement on Demishevich’s Firing

Source: “İMC TV’den açıklama” (“IMC TV Statement”), IMC TV, September 16, 2014. http://www.imctv.com.tr/2014/09/16/imc-tvden-aciklama

Given the claims circulating in certain news sites and social media upon our parting ways with Michelle Demishevich, we feel the need to clarify the issue.

Our decision to stop working with Michelle Demishevich has nothing to do with “red lipstick and inappropriate attire” as is claimed. Demishevich’s claim that she has not been sent out to the field with assignments for the past 7 months is not true. She has regularly been given assignments since she began working with us.

The main reason that has led to her departure is her failure to abide by the work discipline and her continuing to do so despite being warned. We have received many complaints from people who have acted as sources for her news reports about quarrels they have had with her. These complaints have been relayed to her and she has been warned as an IMC TV employee not to argue with news sources and cause tension and quarrels. During her final assignment where she was asked to observe the Saturday Mothers[1] protest on September 13, Demischevich argued with the representatives of the Saturday Mothers and uttered inappropriate words to one Saturday mother. This has been the final straw for us. As IMC TV, our sensitivity about the kind of responsibility journalists must apply to everyone regardless of identity and gender.

It is also not true that Michelle Demishevich has been warned about her attire and behavior in the institution. We expected her to show responsibility and integrity while she worked for us and we expect her to do so after her departure from IMC TV.

Footnotes:

[1] Reportedly inspired by the Mothers’ of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina, Saturday Mothers are a group of mothers who have been protesting disappearances in custody and political murders every saturday in the Galatasaray Square of Istanbul since 1990s. (Sources: a, b)