The Press Freedom Files: How digital subscription models help support democracy in Turkey

IPI Turkey Programme Coordinator, Renan Akyavas, speaks with an executive of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS) Mustafa Kuleli and the US correspondent for BirGün newspaper, Ömür Şahin Keyif, about the most recent challenges Turkey’s free media face, and how to defeat the vicious circles of financial challenges and poor quality journalism in the country.

With the digitalization of free media, digital subscription models like BirGün’s have increasingly become appealing to many independent outlets to survive immense pressure by the Turkish media regulatory bodies’ sanctions such as Press Advertising Agency (BIK) for content critical of the government. Journalists stress that the independence and the quality of journalism they produce can only depend on the support and solidarity they see from their readers.

 

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