The Turkish Media Structure in Judicial and Political Context: An Illustration of Values and Status Negotiation

Abstract

As a structural phenomenon, media as a collective entity occupies a unique field of negotiation between community and authority, a location of autonomy

One meta-media event, two forms of censorship: The Charlie Hebdo affair in the United Kingdom and Turkey

“…Since it was founded in the early 20th century, the Republic of Turkey has had to navigate perennial politico-cultural tensions caused by the clash between Kemalist laicism and political Islamicism. This has resulted in a uniquely Turkish political economy of the media with its culture-specific legal interpretations of freedom of expression, media agency and instrumentality in real space and cyberspace (Farmanfarmaian et al, 2018; Kaya and Çakmur, 2010). Akser and Baybars-Hawks (2012) suggest that Turkey has evolved into a country with a neoliberal model of media autocracy characterized by economic pressure on media outlets, judicial suppression, Internet blackouts and banishment of YouTube and other platforms that could be used to post material critical of the government.…”

The Different Organizational Structures of Alternative Media: Through the Perspective of Alternative Media Journalists in Turkey and Greece

“…The state began to make use of the regulatory institutions, to restructure the media landscape and bring the media on-side. Legislation was also used to silence and/or intimidate journalists (Farmanfarmaian, Sonay, and Akser 2018). The mainstream media reflected the features of a highly polarized media system and mostly supported the socio-political camps of the AKP, the G€ ulen movement or the Kemalists (Panayirci, Iseri, and Sekercioglu 2016).…”

“…The mainstream media reflected the features of a highly polarized media system and mostly supported the socio-political camps of the AKP, the G€ ulen movement or the Kemalists (Panayirci, Iseri, and Sekercioglu 2016). After the attempted coup, media institutions became increasingly homogenous and the variety of media perspectives declined (Farmanfarmaian, Sonay, and Akser 2018).…”

“…Two types of alternative media emerged, one of which was formed by citizens who were discontent with the way the news was monopolized and subdued, and the other being an initiative of professional journalists who found themselves unable to report through their news channels during the 'Gezi Parki' protests and afterwards. Many were immediately fired or pacified through threats if they attempted to report news that conflicted with the AKP, whose media favoured the dominant values of family, the state, the nation and Islam (Farmanfarmaian, Sonay, and Akser 2018). Today, there are various internetbased alternative media outlets that continue to operate freely and provide alternative perspectives but there are only few studies exploring their organizational structures (Akser and McCollum 2019).…”

Media Capture and Journalism as Emotional Labor: How Do Media Professionals Manage Bureaucratic Violence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq?

“…Previous studies have described different strategies, such as violent acts against journalists by the security forces and the police (Relly and Zanger 2017;Hussein 2018). These include judicial and online harassment, physical attacks, assault, arbitrary arrest and detention (Farmanfarmaian, Sonay, and Akser 2018;Orgeret and Tayeebwa 2016;Yesil 2018). For instance, police abuse journalists while they are preparing reports at an event site or state officials arbitrarily interrogate journalists (UNAMI 2021).…”