Arka Mukhopadhyay
Created by Meriç Acemi, Turkic-original ‘As the Crow Flies’ (original title: ‘Kus Uçusu’) is a gripping corporate thriller series about a fast-paced competitive scenario where ambition and righteousness pick on each other. The story uses the metaphor of a jungle where a lion reigns supreme. Lale Kiran, famed news anchor, the face of news channel MON5, and the lion in the equation, moves with her sprawling pack, always keeping her guard up.
After a lecture at a college, she meets avid fan Asli Tuna, and Asli seems to be more interested in her than in news and journalism. However, using some sleight of hand, Asli secures a place in the iconic television media channel. As the bird determines to move up the food chain, she must eliminate everyone who comes on her path. With Asli using cunning and tactic to stay in the game, the story veers off control too soon. However, you must wonder if the series is based on an actual news anchor on Turkish television. In that case, let us illuminate you.
Is As the Crow Flies a True Story?
Yes, ‘As the Crow Flies’ is partially based on a true story. Firstly, the series reinstates realism by conjuring flesh-and-blood characters who stick to their ethical codes while some have to remain flexible to reach their convoluted goal. But all these characters have more than one shade in their intermingled personal and professional lives. Moreover, the story conceals a burgeoning concern about the validity of news as truth. Meriç Acemi wrote and created the series, while Deniz Yorulmazer handled the direction. Acemi is by no means a new name in Turkish television, after shows like ‘Love 101,’ ‘Kiralik Ask,’ and ‘Intikam.’
Deniz Yorulmazer previously collaborated with Acemi in ‘Love 101.’ However, they manage to instill a freshness in the engaging tale of the corporate mudslinging in a fast-paced newsroom. It’s a world governed by the food chain, and the savage game has no rules. Although channel MON5 is quite obviously fictional, Acemi and the creative team perhaps drew for the show from actual events happening in Turkey. While the specifics of the story remain fabrication, the character of Lale Kiran was possibly inspired by a slew of strong female journalists and news anchors who have subsequently come under authority’s wrath after passing miscalculated comments on the media.
Banu Guven, a famed face in Turkish media channel NTV in the early decade of the twenty-first century, was abruptly fired in 2011. According to Guven’s statement, her managers realized that the ruling Justice and Development Party would not appreciate her pro-Kurd stance in the election run-up. Meanwhile, in January 2022, veteran Turkish journalist Sedef Kabaş was detained for an alleged insult to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Meanwhile, in 2017, Nevşin Mengü, a news anchor of CNN Turk and famous for her critical stance against the ruling party, was abruptly relieved from her duties while remaining in the company.
Furthermore, following the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli forces, the global media crisis has only deepened. At this juncture, it is all the more necessary that the media remains neutral and report the truth than conjuring it. While the series safely bypasses an overt politicization of the plot, it still years for truth and integrity of character in an age where power dictates reality. While endowed with a brilliant cast ensemble and a lavish production budget, the series reminds us that it is necessary to be in tune with your inner self to question the assumptions and separate truth from fiction.
Towards the end of the series, Muge, a high-ranking member of the MON5 team, asks her juniors to create a fabricated story. All but four leave the room, and those who stay there remain for fear of losing their jobs. At the end of the first season, the series reminds the viewer to speak truth to power under any circumstances. The moral of the story is that telling the truth gives one respect and worth in society, even if it is not always easy to separate fact from lie in a world where social media stirs public opinion.
Read More: Where Is As the Crow Flies Filmed?
