Erkan looks at Turkey's news channels…

As a news junkie, I may live in the right country. At the moment, there are at least 6 TV channels that specialize in news, that they call themselves as news channels. After bought by Ciner Group, which is heading towards to rebuild its media conglomerate and possibly becoming the second biggest one again, Haberturk … Read more

Milliyet's xenophobia

Milliyet provides a list of Turkish NGOs that received foreign funding. "these fundings are questionable" the report says. Because American consulate funded a religious NGO and Soros funded TESEV, one of the most successful NGOs in research related issues. But they have supported so many other NGOs. For instance TEMA, an environmental NGO with some deep-state connections. Why does the news producer not highlight what TEMA gets?

This is a disgusting way of news making and unfortunately such a quality paper, Milliyet, is frequently trapped into that because of its particularly secularist/nationalistic agenda. If an NGO does not share your political agenda, then it betrays the country with the help of some hostile foreigns….

By the way here is the whole list in Turkish: 

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[updated] Official Kurdish TV channels starts test broadcasting…

New TV channel uses Kurdish usage of some words in which W or X letters are used. Some Kurdish originated Turkish citizens were tried and imprisoned in the last two decades just because they had used those  words…  Use of Kurdish itself was forbidden back in 1980…. A major positive development on the Kurdish question by AKP in an otherwise banally nationalistic political context…

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"Iraqi Journalist?s Shoes Make Turkish Media Happy


If it was PM Erdoğan, he would throw it back…

A collection of cartoons on shoe throwing, mostly from Turkish press.. 

Iraqi Journalist’s Shoes Make Turkish Media Happy – The Jamestown Foundation

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"Online journalists jailed more than other media

A personal ad for Taraf daily. As Taraf tries hard to survive financial, an ad campaign started. Readers paid for these kinds of ads. Here it says, "I switch to use the cell phone service who chooses to give ads to this newspaper, I mean it."

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Office of Chief of Staff gives Turkish journalists a ride to Southeast region…

 

 40 journalists are invited by Turkish army officials to have a tour in Kurdish populated southeastern regions in Turkey. So that these journalists will know better how the struggle between the security forces and terrorists continue… News in Turkish here.

 

 

Civil Society in “European Commission 2008 Progress Report on Turkey”

By USAK:

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Taraf daily under pressure

The latest pressure comes financially. After criticizing government, the paper is excluded from public ads – a traditional state weapon against small-scale press- and it seems that pro-government business also stops giving ads.

Pioneer newspaper hits headlines by breaking down barriers


A small but feisty newspaper with a skeleton staff and a backlog of unpaid wages is taking on the establishment and shaking up the compliant Turkish media.

Confrontational and not afraid to break taboos, Taraf faced down the military to expose the ultranationalist Ergenekon, or Deep State, group and 86 alleged members, including senior military officers, are now on trial accused of trying to engineer a coup.

Continue to read.

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"Global Survey: Blogging journalists, two cultures collide

Global Survey: Blogging journalists, two cultures collide

By Lauren Drablier

In a recent survey, 200 blogging journalists from 30 different countries were interviewed about the effects of blogging on the process of journalism.  According to the survey, respondents came from all sectors of the news industry; almost half worked in the newspaper industry, and one third were online-only or freelance……..

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:Why I Blog The truths of blogging are provisional, its ethos collective and messy, says Andrew Sullivan. It brings writer to reader in a way that is visceral, even brutal…

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Turkish Establishment attacks Taraf altogether.

PM Erdoğan actively supported Gen. Başbuğ yesterday and today.  Mr. Erdoğan was very offended by today’s Taraf headline: "His Pasha’s Prime Minister". He is probably just too happy to be seen as an ally of the army now. Establishment journalists today worked hard to attack Taraf.

To the chief of staff

By TARAF, AHMET ALTAN

Where do you get the courage to speak so recklessly, so impolitely and so threateningly? Do you even hear what you are saying?

Who are you trying to scare? Do you really believe you can scare us? Let me tell you something in a friendly manner, general, please stop making such threats, such gestures full of hatred and anger. These do not scare us. Don’t you understand that some people will do anything to make their country a happy and free one? Please try to understand this and abandon these efforts to frighten us.

 

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"2,459 newspapers, 258 TV stations in Turkey AND hundreds of websites are closed…

2,459 newspapers, 258 TV stations in Turkey

Statistics released by the Prime Ministry Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) indicate that Turkey has 2,459 newspapers and that 258 television stations are based in the country, in addition to providing a wealth of other information on electronic communications and entertainment in the country."

When You Have A Hammer, Everything Looks Like A Nail

By Jenny White on website ban in Turkey

On Turkish web censorship, a Financial Times article from August 22:

A law passed in 2007 gave judges the power to ban websites for inciting suicide, drug use, paedophilia, immorality, illegal prostitution or insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the architect of modern Turkey.

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"New era signaled in army-media relations in Turkey

New era signaled in army-media relations in Turkey

Turkey’s new army chief Gen. Ilker Basbug signaled Tuesday a new era has started regarding the relations between the military and the media.

Chief Of Staff Meets With A Select Group Of Media Organs
BİA – İstanbul,Turkey
Sedat Ergin, chief editor of the newspaper Milliyet, told that they had asked the chief of staff what their accreditation criteria regarding the newspapers

AND  "New era signaled in army-media relations in Turkey…

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Doğan vs. Erdoğan- the weekend round

Erkan was not impressed with the weekend expositions.

PM Erdoğan did rise expectation and so I wasn’t impressed with his new wave of accusations. Here is a roundup: 

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Doğan Media Mogul vs. Tayyip Erdoğan; no one backs off

 PM Erdoğan promised to open up new files by this weekend. As the deadline gets closer, no side seems to be backing off. Today Hürriyet’s chief editor, Ertuğrul Özkök replied back/threatened angrily in NTV channel. Once again I have to underline: This is not a case of freedom of speech. Only this media mogul’s own papers (and plus the staunchly Kemalist, Cumhuriyet) support their bosses at the moment… 

A quick primer on Doğan vs Erdoğan

What is Lighthouse e.V? Lighthouse e.V. was a Germany-based charity foundation that operated between March, 2001 and April, 2007. Its director Mehmet Gürhan, his successor Mehmet Taşkan and

 

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Day 2 in the battle of AKP vs. DMG

I thought after yesterday’s speech Mr. Erdoğan would not talk back immediately, and i spent the day out without recognizing today’s speech until the evening. Well, Mr. Erdoğan gives "1 week" to correct the false news disseminated by Doğan group dailies. Mr. Doğan replied back in Kanal D to declare that his media will not be an obedient media in sum. I found Mr. Doğan a little bit scared. But only a little bit. He has a giant media empire, his journalists occupy many Press institutions, his daughter is the head of powerful businessman association, TUSIAD. Although he said last night "all state institutions belong to AKP,  they can finish us easily, we know that things do not work like that. A leftist TV channel, Hayat TV was closed nearly all summer and no body could help that but DMG is not a small marginal media group and dynamics of politics is much more complicated. Never politically correct Mr. Erdoğan waited for more than 2 years to attack back, and only after the Constitutional Court case, he felt more secure to start the battle.
Mr. Erdoğan claimed that Mr. Doğan visited him and requested some privileges for the Hilton Hotel site located in near the super valuable Taksim square. (In tonight’s interview at Kanal D, Aydın Doğan said "of course, we always have requests from the government, we do lots of business and we have needs to discuss]  When he was rejected, DMG dailies began to attack. DMG is known to request some sort of airwave rights for CNN Turk. That is also refused. After tens of TV channels, anti-trust laws do not allow him for more airwave but Mr. Doğan wants more basically. Anyway, we will see new files to be opened in the next few days. In the mean time, in today’s papers Abdullah Gül’s visit to Armeania and the "battle" news competed in headlines. DMG’s flagship Hürriyet replied back. Milliyet also. [circulation report of dailies are given in the end]


DMG’s newly acquired furiously anti-AKP Vatan columnists charged their weapons like the ones above:

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Now open warfare between AKP and Doğan Media Group (DMG)!

 After a corruption case whose details given below, DMG papers and CHP started a new wave of attack against AKP and its leadership. As usual Milliyet leads the accusations. As far as I remember PM Tayyip Erdoğan uttered the name of "Aydın Doğan" for the first time and he accused him of not having moral … Read more