Media has become the “fourth pillar of the government” in Turkey, ever since the first private media outlets emerged in the 1980s (Çaglar & Çakar-Mengü, 2009). The lack of laws to limit the monopolization and acquiring the competition in relation to media companies, made it easier for influential and wealthy individuals to create media cartels in Turkey. Unlike other profit driven businesses, media that has been created or acquired to maximize profits in non-media related sectors is likely to struggle in fulfilling its role of bringing unbiased content and information to the masses. Oligopoly of media outlets by entrepreneurs who have trade and business ties with government damages the independent information flow in Turkey; causing media
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Content manipulation is an effective and morally dubious tool used to shape the perception and attitudes to achieve to anticipated public emotion and reactions. Selective exposure to certain images, situations and characters can influence, shape the viewers perspective and beliefs. Neo-Ottomanism is a political ideology, that encourages Turkish Republic and its citizens to embrace their Ottoman roots with regards to political and social structure. Benevolent attitude towards this ideology by mainstream politicians, has brought the women 's place in social life into the discussion. Cengiz Media Group of Cengiz Holding, is one of the major supporters of Neo-Ottomanism in mediasphere since 2007. Interestingly, after the shift in programme content in 2007, Cengiz Holding has become the one of the greatest construction companies of Turkey (Buğra & Savaşkan, 2014). Majority of television drama broadcasted by Cengiz Media presents women in polarising manner, tinged caricatures of conservative and liberal. Women who cover their heads (turban) because of religious requirement are predominantly represented in a positive light, in roles defined by a patriarchal society; home-makers, mothers, chaste women. On the other hand, women who pursue careers outside “the kitchen”, Muslim women who do not wear turban, and non-muslim women …show more content…
In Turkey most of the news content comes from television, due limited internet access in poorer rural areas. Heavy reliance on a single outlet of media owned by a few individuals, makes audience unable to view diverse and variable of content. Doğan Media Group is the major media company in Turkey, owning 2/3 of advertising revenues from newspapers, and has the 30% of the television audience (Ekşi, 2014). Content distributed by Doğan Media alone can determine public opinion surrounding current issues. Doğan Media Group has abused this power during the Gezi Park protests in 2013, a series of demonstrations against government oppression. The infamous “penguin incident” taken place on the most violent night of the protests where 3 protesters were killed as a result of police of brutality. Meanwhile CNNTURK, the Turkish counterpart of CNN International which belongs to Doğan Media, has broadcasted documentary series about the migratory patterns of emperor penguins on primetime instead of reporting the demonstrations (Oktem, 2013). Excluding few independent channels, first 2 days of protests did not appear in any of the news media outlets. By censoring and not showing the events on mainstream channels, media successfully managed stop the information flow from Istanbul to the rest of the country. Forcing people to rely on independent social media devices
Content manipulation is an effective and morally dubious tool used to shape the perception and attitudes to achieve to anticipated public emotion and reactions. Selective exposure to certain images, situations and characters can influence, shape the viewers perspective and beliefs. Neo-Ottomanism is a political ideology, that encourages Turkish Republic and its citizens to embrace their Ottoman roots with regards to political and social structure. Benevolent attitude towards this ideology by mainstream politicians, has brought the women 's place in social life into the discussion. Cengiz Media Group of Cengiz Holding, is one of the major supporters of Neo-Ottomanism in mediasphere since 2007. Interestingly, after the shift in programme content in 2007, Cengiz Holding has become the one of the greatest construction companies of Turkey (Buğra & Savaşkan, 2014). Majority of television drama broadcasted by Cengiz Media presents women in polarising manner, tinged caricatures of conservative and liberal. Women who cover their heads (turban) because of religious requirement are predominantly represented in a positive light, in roles defined by a patriarchal society; home-makers, mothers, chaste women. On the other hand, women who pursue careers outside “the kitchen”, Muslim women who do not wear turban, and non-muslim women …show more content…
In Turkey most of the news content comes from television, due limited internet access in poorer rural areas. Heavy reliance on a single outlet of media owned by a few individuals, makes audience unable to view diverse and variable of content. Doğan Media Group is the major media company in Turkey, owning 2/3 of advertising revenues from newspapers, and has the 30% of the television audience (Ekşi, 2014). Content distributed by Doğan Media alone can determine public opinion surrounding current issues. Doğan Media Group has abused this power during the Gezi Park protests in 2013, a series of demonstrations against government oppression. The infamous “penguin incident” taken place on the most violent night of the protests where 3 protesters were killed as a result of police of brutality. Meanwhile CNNTURK, the Turkish counterpart of CNN International which belongs to Doğan Media, has broadcasted documentary series about the migratory patterns of emperor penguins on primetime instead of reporting the demonstrations (Oktem, 2013). Excluding few independent channels, first 2 days of protests did not appear in any of the news media outlets. By censoring and not showing the events on mainstream channels, media successfully managed stop the information flow from Istanbul to the rest of the country. Forcing people to rely on independent social media devices