Download Media Ownership in Turkey ASLI TUNC

Prof. Aslı TUNÇ
Istanbul Bilgi University
2011 November
A Brief Historical Background
 When the Republic was established in 1923,
literacy rate in Turkey was below 10 %
 Transition from the Arabic/Persian to Latin
Alphabet in 1928.
 In the 1920s, the written language consisted
of more than 80 % Arabic, Persian, and
French words
Language Reform
 When written language became an important
means of communication (the press and telegraph)
in the mid 19th century, a reform of the alphabet
was needed
 This instant transition made the whole nation
almost illiterate overnight
 Causing irreversible damage to print media, and
leaving newspaper editors no choice but to rely on
graphic material and mostly cartoons.
 Most magazines and dailies folded, while
circulations of others decreased.
From Single Party to Multi-Parties
System
 From Turkey's founding until 1946, it was largely a
single party operation.
 Until the multi-parties system the press was under
control of CHP (Republican People’s Party) by
distributing the state’s declarations, importing the
paper and equipment related to printing, and having
the local newspapers use the state’s printing houses.
 In 1946 a multiparty political system was
established.
 The gradual transition to multi-party democracy and
the demise of the single party regime had a huge
impact on the Turkish press
1950-1961
 Vivid media climate in the 1950s, golden days of the
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Turkish press
On May 27,1960, an intelligentsia-supported military
coup
The 1961 Constitution, the most liberal in Turkish
political history, safeguarded the freedom of the press
and for the first time socialist newspapers and
periodicals could be published
Granted the freedom of press as a matter of
fundamental rights along with others such as religious
freedom and recognition of labor unions
Many of the measures introduced in the 1950s to
restrict the press were repealed after the coup that
took place on 27 May 1960.
1960-1971
 Newspapers became highly political
 The press itself prepared a code of ethics to pursue a more
responsible reporting and printing in the 1960s
 This free and tolerant period did not last very long
 The generals put the freedoms aside by the 1971 military
coup and curtailed the 1961 Constitution
 One of the first actions taken by generals was to close down
all socialist and liberal periodicals and newspapers,
arresting intellectuals, writers, artists and journalists.
Post -1980
 Compared to these prior interventions (1960,1971), that of
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Sept.12 was by far the most important in its intention,
duration, and long-term effects (The 1980 Constitution)
With the civil government in 1983, the pressure over the
press relatively lessened
The market-oriented economic policies immediately came
after the coup
This trend initiated newspapers’ extensive coverage of
finance and economy news
Local and alternative newspapers folded one by one leaving
their places to the national sensationalist press (as a result
of a major depoliticization process)
Turning Points in the Turkish Media
 Businessmen invested on other sectors besides media
 The profile of a media owner changed radically
 Huge investment on technological infrastructure rather
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than reporters and journalists
Recruting star columnists rather than correspondents
and reporters
Newspapers began to serve opinions rather than news
items
Media began to be tools for political and financial
interests and for manipulation
Journalists’ Associations and Unions lost their
significance and power
And AKP Comes to Power…
 Since coming to power in 2002, AKP (Justice and
Development Party ) used legal loopholes to
confiscate and to sell independent media
organizations to party supporters, and the media
landscape changed drastically.
 In 2002, pro-AKP businesses owned less than 20
percent of Turkish media outlets.
 Today, pro-government partisans own around half.
And AKP Comes to Power…
 Media companies are split into “proponents” and
“opponents” of the government.
 It is argued that the government has facilitated the
establishment of “proponent” media organizations by
providing easy credit and also by indirectly
threatening “opponent” media owners by opening taxrelated procedures against them.
 The seemingly diverse media scene in Turkey is highly
deceptive.
Current Situation in Turkish Media Scene
 43 national newspapers
 3450 periodicals, half of them weekly, are
published in Turkey.
 The average daily circulation of local newspapers
varies between 1,000 and 15,000.
 Total circulation of national newspapers is around
4,5 million in a country of 74 million.
 This circulation number includes sports (mainly
soccer) dailies. Major ones can be listed as Pas
Fotomaç, Fanatik, Efsane Fotospor, Fotogol with a
circulation of 563 thousand.
Current Situation in Turkish Media Scene
 9 newspapers are published in other languages than
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Turkish:
Weekly bilingual Agos (Armenian and Turkish)
Jamanak (Armenian)
Apoyevmatini and Iho (Greek)
Azadiya Welat (Kurdish)
Weekly Şalom (Ladino and Turkish)
Today’s Zaman and Hürriyet Daily News (English)
Türkei Kurier (German)
Minority newspapers have extremely limited
circulations ranging from 500 to 2,000.
Broadcasting Scene
 Besides the public broadcaster, TRT, there are 24
national, 16 regional and 224 local television
channels.
 There are 36 national, 108 regional and 944 local
radio stations.
 There are 76 cable TV channels with 5 cable radio
stations.
 As a part of the EU reform efforts to give cultural
rights to minorities, TRT 6 (Şeş) began to
broadcast in Kurdish starting January 2009.
Concentration of Media Ownership
 Doğan Media Group (DMG)
 Çalık Holding
 Çukurova Holding
 Doğuş Grubu
 Ciner Grubu
 İhlas Holding
Doğan Media Group
 25 television channels (Kanal D, CNNTurk, Cable TV channels)
 4 radio stations
 5 daily newspapers (Hürriyet, Radikal, Posta, Fanatik, Hürriyet Daily
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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: Energy, tourism, commerce
Recent Shifts in Ownership Structure
 On April 20, 2011 Doğan Media Group (DMG), sold their two
major newspapers, Milliyet and Vatan to Demirören-Karacan
joint venture for $74 million in total, $47.96 million and $26
million respectively.
 Milliyet and Vatan have a daily circulation of 166,000 and
110,000 print copies, respectively. Combined, they currently hold
a 6 percent share in the Turkish newspaper market.
 Demirören Group (DG)’s interests are in distribution and retail
sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), petroleum, as well as real
estate development, construction, mining, and metal products.
 Karacan family is the former owner of Milliyet in 1979.
Recent Shifts in Ownership Structure
 Kanal 24 TV news channel and Star newspaper have
been sold to former AKP MP on October 2010.
 After this deal, both media outlets started to work as
propaganda tools of the government.
 Doğan Media Group sold Star TV, one of the major
entertainment channel to Doğuş Holding for $327
million on October, 2011
Recent Developments in Ownership
Structure
 In March 3, 2011, the ownership structure of radio and
television enterprises has also been revized.
 Law No. 6112increased the maximum limit on foreign
investment from 25 percent to 50 percent, on the
condition that the same foreign investor cannot invest
in more than two enterprises.
 From now on, international media companies can be
major partners of the broadcasting companies.
Çalık Holding (Turkuaz Media Group)
1 television (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 the printing
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.
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Çukurova Holding
 23 television channels (The 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
Doğuş Holding
 7 television channels (NTV, Star TV, NTV Spor, CNBC-e,
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e2, NBA TV, KRAL TV)
7 radio stations (NTV Radyo, Radyo Eksen, Capital Radio,
NTV Spor, Radyo Voyage, Virgin Radyo, Kral FM)
6 magazines and 5 Internet online shopping and betting
sites
Publishing House (NTV Yayınları)
Other sectors Doğuş is involved in: Banking, finance,
auto, construction, tourism, energy)
Ciner Group
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2 television channels (Habertürk, Bloomberg HT)
Radio station(Habertürk Radyo)
Habertürk newspaper
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
İhlas Holding
 İhlas sold TGRT to News Corporation but still holds TGRT
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News
Radio station (TGRT FM)
1 newspaper (Türkiye Gazetesi)
16 magazines
News agency (İhlas Haber Ajansı)
Other sectors İhlas is involved in:
Construction, marketing, health, tourism, education and
real estate
Other Actors in Media Sector
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ALBAYRAK GROUP (Yenişafak Newspaper ,TVNET)
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KOZA –İPEK HOLDİNG (Kanaltürk, Bugün Newspaper)
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MNG ŞİRKETLER GROUP(TV8, MNG news agency)
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SAMANYOLU PUBLISHING (Samanyolu TV , Mehtap TV, Yumurcak TV ve Burç radyo, Dünya Radyo, S
Haber Radyo )
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CANWEST MEDYA TURKEY (Süper FM, Metro FM, Joy FM ve Joy Türk Radyoları)
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FEZA PUBLICATIONS (Zaman, Today’s Zaman, Aksiyon, Sızıntı, Cihan Haber Ajansı)
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GÖKTUĞ PUBLISING (Flash TV)
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AVRUPA, AMERİKA HOLDING (Cine 5, Gala TV, Viva TV, Sper Sport, Radyo 5, Radyo Viva, Radyo Nostalji
ve Show Radyo)
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DÜNYA GROUP (Dünya gazetesi, Dünya Dağıtım, Dünya Web Ofset ve 10 dergi)
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NEWS CORPORATION (TGRT, Fox TV, Fox Life)
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BAŞKENT UNIVERSITY (Kanal B)
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YENİ DÜNYA İLETİŞİM (Kanal 7, Kanal 7 İnt, Haber 7, Radyo 7, İstanbul'un Sesi ve TVT )
As a Final Word
 The owners of the biggest media groups are also
involved as investors and shareholders in different
sectors of the economy, such as health, education,
construction, and telecommunication.
 All the media groups have conflicting economic
interests
 The media outlets, which are close to the political
circles benefit from the financial gains and become
tools of partisanship.
 The deals, tenders and mergers are opaque as there is
no regulation to guarantee the financial transparency.
As a Final Word
 Public broadcaster, TRT, is heavily slanted in favor or
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.
Thank you for Your Attention!