Media Landscape under AKP Rule

Mustafa Sönmez

May 2012

Media has severe problems

Mainstream media in Turkey is plagued with severe problems: Media ownership is heavily concentrated in a few hands, but is vulnerable against the government. 80% of the media, including national newspapers, radio and TV channels are owned by a handful of cross-media groups. The activities of these conglomerates expand to other businesses beyond the media, such as finance, manufacturing industry, construction, real estate, etc. These conglomerates, in order to secure their business interests, usually establish alliances with governments. Governments tend to control the media to strengthen their political power.Nationalistic rhetoric and self-censorship is dominant.

After 2002 Elections…

Two actors have attained crucial roles after 2002 elections: the Neoliberal-Islamic Gülen Movement and the Justice and Development Party (AKP). And the political coalition between them was supported by the USA.In fact one of the partners of this coalition, the Gülen Movement became an international actor. AKP has its roots in the Islamist Milli Görüş (National Outlook), which is today represented by Saadet Partisi, known as an “orthodox Islamic”, anti-EU/IMF and generally anti-west political organisation. Before 2002 elections, the founders of AKP, Erdoğan and Gül had declared that they had taken off the National Outlook shirt and built a coalition with the Gülen Movement.

An authoritarian régime under AKP

• In the AKP period, Turkey is rapidly being driven into an authoritarian régime.

• Politics is dominated by a single party, the government is single-handed, and it eludes any form of constitutional control.

• There are pressures on the media, the judiciary, NGOs, trade unions, etc.

• The predominance of a concept of government based on majority rather than pluralism has started a process toward authoritarianism using democracy as an instrument.

• The constitutional protection of individuals ensured by judicial control has disappeared.

• The judiciary is unable to play the role of arbitration. • Ultimately channels of opposition is almost blocked.• The opposition is intimidated.

A Society of Fear

• Especially after the 2007 General Elections the authoritarian tendencies and actions of the AKP government have gradually become more evident:

• Illegal phone tapping and investigations aiming to silence opponents;

• Very long periods of detention of university, media, NGO members; searches conducted in private locations and the sequestration of personal goods which have no connection with any criminal acts;

• Plus the financial pressures exercised on companies and media organizations have created a society of fear in Turkey.

Redesigning the Media

• Governmental pressure on the media is nothing new in Turkey.

• But this time, there appears to be a strong effort to exercise this by the ruling party AKP.

• Not only to intimidate and control, but also to redesign the whole media scene.

Interfering with Media Ownership

• Redesigning of media has started with AKP government’s interfering with media ownership.

• Previously dominant media owner Doğan Group was forced to shrink, both in the media and other sectors.

• Proponent entrepreneurs have been encouraged for new media investments and for takeovers.

• Mainstream media was forced to obey and forced to support government’s programs.

Shrinking of Doğan Media

• With government’s pressure Doğan Group sold Milliyet and Vatan newspapers in 2011 to Demirören Group and one of its TV channels Star to Doğuş Media Group.

• Thus, Doğan Group’s share in the market shrank from 55-60% to 35-40%.

What’s Left From Doğan…• 25 TV channels (Kanal D, CNNTurk, Cable TV channels)• 4 radio stations• 5 daily newspapers (Hürriyet, Radikal, Posta, Fanatik,

Hürriyet Daily News) • 27 magazines• 1 digital platform (D-Smart)• 1 distribution company (Yay-Sat)• publishing house (Doğan Kitap)• news agency (DHA)• 25 news portals• 30% of the total circulation of national newspapers belongs to

this group • Other sectors DMG is actively involved in: real estate,

tourism, commerce

Acquisition of Sabah-ATV

• The changing hands of the flagships of the Bilgin Group, Sabah newspaper and ATV TV network, is a case in point. These properties were purchased by Çalık Group who is very close to Prime Minister Erdoğan, with funds provided by state banks and Gulf sources friendly with AKP. Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak has been the chairman of the company since the acquisition.

Profile of Çalık (Sabah-ATV)

• 1 TV station (ATV)• 1 radio (Radyo City)• 6 newspapers (Sabah, Takvim, Günaydın, Yeni Asır, Pas, Fotomaç)• 12 magazines• 1 distribution company• printing house • news agency• Çalık Holding owns 20% of the advertising shares in press and 23%

of the shares in the broadcasting sector• Other sectors Çalık is actively involved in: energy, textile,

construction• The CEO of Çalık Holding, Berat Albayrak, is the son-in law of

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Albayrak has been with the company since 1999.

Presence of Fethullah Gülen in the Media

• The biggest selling, liberal/Islamic daily Zaman is owned by Feza Group, which has close connections with the Islamic sect leader Fethullah Gülen.  Zaman also has a sister newspaper Today’s Zaman (average circulation: 5,000) in English.

• The Gülen Group, which has provided strong support to the government since 2002, is likely to emerge as one of the largest media groups.

Fethullah Gülen in the MediaPrint Media• Zaman Gazetesi• Zaman Kitap• Today's Zaman• Aksiyon Dergisi• Zaman Kazakistan• Zaman Amerika• Cihan Haber Ajansı• Sızıntı Dergisi • Zaman Azerbaycan• Gonca Dergisi I• Zaman Avusturya• Zaman Avrupa• Zaman Bulgaristan• Zaman Romanya• Zaman Türkmenistan

TV• Samanyolu TV• Samanyolu Haber• Mehtap TV• Yumurcak TV• Samanyolu Avrupa• Samanyolu Amerika• Ebru TV• Hazar TV• Dünya TV• Tuna Shopping TV

Radio• Burç FM• Dünya Radyo• Radyo Cihan• Radyo Mehtap• Samanyolu Haber Radyo

Zaman: By Home Delivery System

• Total daily circulation of national newspapers is around 4,5 million.

• It’s claimed that Gülen Group’s newspaper Zaman, has a 1 million daily circulation. But 95 % of the distribution of Zaman is through a home delivery system and it is mostly free.

Other Pro-AKP Media Groups• KANALTÜRK

Kanaltürk, Bugün TV, Bugün Newspaper

Ovacık Altın Madeni, Mastra Altın Madeni, Koza Matbaacılık

• TARAF (left liberal, supported by Gülen Community)

• İhlas

TGRT FM, TGRT Haber, TGRT EU, TGRT Belgesel, İhlas Haber Ajansı, Türkiye Gazetesi

• ALBAYRAK GROUP

Yeni Şafak Newspaper, TVNET

• Sancak-Özince Groups

Star Newspaper, TV 24

• YENİ DÜNYA İLETİŞİM

Kanal 7, Kanal 7 İnt, Haber 7, Radyo 7, İstanbul'un Sesi, TVT

TRT, AA (Public Media): Proponents

• Public broadcaster, TRT and official news agency Anadolu Agency (AA) is heavily slanted in favor of the government in power and their supporters.

• No news critical of the government is likely to make it into the news broadcasts.

• These broadcasts reflect the new ideological status quo, i.e. a mixture of religion-tinted conservatism, superficial liberalism and the pragmatic governmental line.

“Proponents” and “Hostage” Media Support

• AKP government depends on the support of “proponents” and “hostage” media.

• The government has facilitated the establishment of “proponent” media organizations by providing easy credit and also by indirectly threatening of “hostage” media owners by enforcing tax-related procedures against them.

Media Groups as HostageSome media groups, a part of conglomerates, cannot be classified as

proponents but can be defined as hostages of AKP government. They are threatened with tax-related, bureaucratic procedures.

ÇUKUROVA GROUP• 23 TV channels (biggests are Show TV, Sky TV)• 2 radio stations (Alem FM, Show Radyo)• 3 newspapers (Akşam, Güneş, Tercüman)• 8 magazines• 1 digital platform (Digiturk)• Other sectors Çukurova is actively involved in:

telecommunications (i.e. Turkcell, Superonline), construction, tourism, aviation

CİNER GROUP• 2 TV channels (Habertürk, Bloomberg HT)• radio station (Habertürk Radyo)• newspaper (Habertürk)• internet portal (haberturk.com) • 11 magazines• Film Production Studio (C Yapım Filmcilik)• Other sectors Ciner is involved in: energy, tourism, aviation,

commerce, service sectors with 26 companies besides media outlets

DOĞUŞ GROUP• 7 television channels (NTV, Star TV, NTV Spor, CNBC-e, e2,

NBA TV, KRAL TV)• 7 radio stations (NTV Radyo, Radyo Eksen, Capital Radio,

NTV Spor, Radyo Voyage, Virgin Radyo, Kral FM) • 6 magazines• 5 internet online shopping and betting sites• Publishing House (NTV Yayınları)• Other sectors Doğuş is involved in: Banking, finance, auto,

construction, tourism, energy)

OTHERS

• MNG ŞİRKETLER GROUP( TV8, MNG News Agency)

• GÖKTUĞ PUBLISHING (Flash TV)

• DÜNYA GROUP (Dünya Newspaper , Dünya Dağıtım, Dünya

Web Ofset)

• NEWS CORPORATION (TGRT, Fox TV, Fox Life)

• CANWEST MEDYA TURKEY (Süper FM, Metro FM, Joy FM

and Joy Türk Radyoları)

Opponent Media

Opponent media owners in Turkey are very weak . Daily circulation of opponent newspapers is not more then 10% of the total market. AKP government directly and/or indirectly threatens “opponent” media owners by exercising tax-related procedures against them.

Cumhuriyet newspaper is known as the principal opponent. And it’s as old as the Turkish Republic. Average circulation is 50-60 thousand daily.Sözcü is another opponent newspaper, with an average circulation of 250 thousand daily.Aydınlık and Ulusal Kanal are another group of opponents and have organic ties with the nationalist left Labor Party.Halk TV, Yurt newspaper (have inorganic ties with CHP)Milli Gazete (Islamic opponents)Yeni Çağ (near to MHP, Turkish nationalists movement)Birgün, Evrensel (close to the Turkish left)Gündem (the Kurdish opposition)Kanal B (owner is arrested in Silivri, Prof. Dr.Mehmet Haberal)IMC is a TV channel close to the Kurdish opposition.Cem TV (close to the Alevi community)

Besides these, there are some humor weeklies, radio stations ( Özgür Radyo, Yön Radyo), news agencies (Anka, Dicle Haber Ajansı), news portals (bianet.org, sendika.org, Oda TV) on the front of opponents…

Finance of Media and Advertising

• Total spending in advertisement reached 3 billion US Dollars in Turkey. This makes four in a thousand of national income. While TV channels are getting 57% of this income, newspapers get 24 %. Internet’s share is 8%. Printed media is bleeding.

Media is not profitable. Then what is the use of media

investment? Taking into consideration the number of players in the media, ad revenues are not enough and media is frequently subsidized. The loses of media firms are compensated through external benefits. These benefits are some facilities, easy credits, licenses, permits, favoritism for public tenders by the government , shortly “nepotism”.

Although it’s not profitable, having a media tool at hand gives the owners new potential power which can be used against the rivals and for/or against the government.

Battle for Share of Advertising Income

The sector is trying to survive by 80% income from advertisement revenues and 20% income from paper sales. This ad pie and sales income is being shared by:- 16 national, 15 regional and 229 local TV channels. 260 in sum (53 is available via cable)- 30 national, 108 regional and 1062 local radio stations. 1200 in sum.- 32 daily newspapers and 85 magazines distributed nationally.

Changing Patterns…

• The employment and management patterns have also changed along with the change of ownership structures in Turkish media sector since 1980’s.

• One of the most important consequences of this transformation is the undermining of the common perception that media delivers public service.

• Additionally the traditional values and ethics of journalism are becoming inessential.

What to do?Immediate agenda in the media is to have a democratization program. Media’s program cannot be independent of the transition from this authoritarian regime to a full democracy.

- Media workers must be organized in labor unions and should use their bargaining and strike rights freely.

- Media aristocracy and media dictatorship’s anti-democratic structure must be criticized systematically.

- Alternative media’s expansion should be supported through public infrastructure (especially distribution).

- Public broadcasting (TRT, AA) should attain an autonomous status.

- Media literacy must be a “mandatory course” in schools.