Democratic backsliding and the media: the convergence of news narratives in Turkey

Abstract

This article presents how the rise of Justice and Development Party (AKP) to political power in Turkey transformed journalists’ professional practices as to lead to a decline in the plurality of opinions presented in the media. After AKP’s second electoral victory in 2007, political trials, property transfers, and dismissals wrapped in a discourse of punishment and purge of the “nation’s enemies” destabilized long established power hierarchies of secularists, religious-conservatives, Kurds, and leftists in Turkey. The destabilization was caused by the state’s changing attitude toward these identity groups, and in the media it lead to shifts in journalists’ status positions and emotions. Varying professional responses triggered by these shifts explain the convergence to a dominant singular political narrative in the media. This argument builds on narrative evidence collected between 2012 and 2014 via in-depth interviews, newspaper articles, and journalists’ memoires. With a from-below account, the article presents the effects of destabilized hierarchies on journalistic practice. In the example of media, it invites scholars to rethink contemporary democratic backsliding in terms of the links between state actors and non-state actors, on the one hand, and social actors’ power positions, political identities, and professional practices, on the other.

“Otherness” and Self-Censorship in the Land of Coups: Greek Correspondents in Turkey Pre- and Post-Coup Attempt

“…Furthermore, the actor 'Failed coup attempt' inscribed two new actors: 'surveillance state' and 'autocratic local media'. The sanctions faced by local colleagues as pointed out by Pukallus et al (2020), the creation of an autocratic media landscape (Akin, 2017), the state of surveillance dominating post-coup Turkey (Yesil & Sozeri, 2017), the uniformed governmental narrative imposed on the Turkish media (Över, 2021(Över, , Topak, 2019 Change 3: Increased workload -Figure 4 The Greek correspondents confirm that the interest of the home country in Turkish news has increased considerably after the failed coup attempt, as it has happened in other European countries (Fracchiolla, 2020), but to a much less extent, according to their words. The failed coup attempt as an event or a concept -the attribution of 'concept' is suggested by Archetti (2014)-and its repercussions put pressure on the Greek agency's agenda for more and more stories, as depicted by the multiple unilateral arrows toward the 'Greek agency's agenda'.…”

From self-censorship to contention: Shame triggered participation in the 2013 Gezi Protests

“…AKP accomplished this through the imposition of tax penalties to its opponents and provisioning of credits to proponents. Already by 2011, 30% of the media had changed hands (Çarkoğlu et al, 2014) (See Över [2021] for a discussion of reward and punishment strategies directed at the media. )…”

Discourse Practices and Identity Remodeling of Hosts on Live Streaming Platforms under the Background of Informatization

“…With the advent of the era of integrated media, newspapers, radio, television, and other traditional media have opened the integrated media live section and have their own anchor; traditional radio and television hosts are facing new challenges and opportunities [11][12][13]. In order to adapt to the development needs of the times, traditional radio and television hosts must constantly adjust the original hosting state, combined with their own professional skills and experience, and continue to improve their business ability and transformation ability in order to meet the hosting requirements of the modern live broadcast of integrated media [14][15].…”