Journalism and New Era in Media from the Eyes of Journalists

We interviewed journalists from different media organizations about digital transformation and new era in media with reference to the closure of Habertürk and Aydın Doğan’s handing over their media group (two big mainstream media corporations).

Ceren Sözeri from Evrensel Newspaper, Semanur Sönmez from Kanal 7, Yetvart Danzikyan from Agos Newspaper, Hatice Kübra Özdemir from Internet Haber and Mustafa Kuleli from journo.com.tr answered our questions about transformation in media.

Ceren Sözeri: There are ongoing problems regarding journalism independent from the authority. However, I think it is not about partiality. There are many warnings regarding acting responsibly. Journalists do not have any opportunity to maintain their duties, such as getting paid well and being able to reach large masses, unless there is a politically and economically strong alternative against the authority and its media. Those who do not give up on their occupation strive to make news in online or smaller newspapers. We have to strengthen this web, there is not much else to do.

Semanur Sönmez Yaman: Anyone can start an online newspaper nowadays and become a little media boss. And their first thing is to make profit from it. That can either be as partisanship or deception. Some exaggerates, some neglects and some defames. It doesn’t change in any particular community. Leftist, religionist or an advocate of a political party all do the same.

Yetvart Danzikyan: Habertürk might have been able to continue if they hadn’t report news as a vehicle of the government (which was not practically possible). Yes, we can say that but there is another side to that story. Are independent newspapers sold? Not that many. Cumhuriyet, Evrensel, Birgün are not sold as expected. I think readers have gotten used to short and free news circulating on social media and this fact puts pressure on newspapers.

Hatice Kübra Özdemir: Habertürk was an important figure of mainstream media. Their ending the printed publication and continuing as an online press organization led to different arguments. One of the main reason is alternative media’s and online publishing’s getting ahead of published papers.  

Mustafa Kuleli: We live in a polarized society and journalist are also affected. However, journalism is an occupation of contact and distance. It is not activism or a step for becoming a figure in politics. Media sector is not downsized but unemployment rate is quite high. Media corporations employ designers, data journalists, social media managers, digital storytellers, trend-analysts and SEO experts but do not need a simple journalist to report news. We can say that newspapers will have to strive to survive in this market conditions, that’s why, journalists have to improve themselves in some digital fields.