Journalism in Turkey: Practices, Challenges, Opportunities

This short book review was first published in Middle East Monitor.

The media plays a key role, and not only in liberal democratic regimes. Ruling elites use media as a tool for propaganda to reproduce the dominant ideology in authoritarian countries, whereas the ruling elites are monitored through the media as a way of accountability and transparency in liberal democratic countries.

Mass media and social media shape the way social and political developments are represented and viewed. A free and plural media is the safeguard of a healthy democracy. The media holds very significant functions in a democratic regime such as supplying information, making investigations, providing society with a public forum, creating a basis for mobilisation and democratic education.

The media is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world today, with a rising scholarly interest in media studies. There is also an increasing interest in Turkish academia related to media economy and the media-politics relationship. In this regard, published by the Switzerland-based Peter Lang, a new book entitled Journalism in Turkey: Practices, Challenges, Opportunities is an important work covering Turkey's media landscape from different viewpoints in a historical framework, focusing on the transformation of journalism in Turkey. The book, edited by Devrim İnce and Yurdagül Bezirgan Arar, provides insightful research addressing various perspectives on journalism in Turkey.

Some of the topics that have been addressed are:

– The transformation of journalism in the Turkish context

– The change of professional journalism practice

– The shift in news consumption habits

– Changes in media professionals' technical skills and digital adaptation

– The citizen journalism issue

– News verification platforms in the post-truth era

– The foreign media capital and news organisations in Turkey

By presenting a current picture of journalism in Turkey, the book consists of eleven chapters by underlining both historical continuities and breaks. For instance, in the chapter entitled "An Ever-Lasting Status Quo: Journalistic Field in Turkey", Gökçen İnce provides an insightful analysis of the Turkish journalism scene. In the chapter entitled "Construction of Gender Codes in Conservative Media: Conserved Gender", Semiray Yücebaş discusses gender codes in conservative media organs. In the chapter "From Citizen Journalism to Alternative Media: The Case of 140journos", Eyçin and Erhan Atabey analyse the 140Journos platform as an actor in the alternative media landscape.

In the post-truth age, journalism activities in Turkey reveal critical examples of how media professionals fight barriers and manage the censorship crisis. In this book, clues are given on the changing structure and dynamics of journalism. The book covers the new-born media actors and the transformation of journalism practice using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. It aims to present both continuities and breaks from the tradition in the Turkish media landscape.