Prof. Süleyman İrvan stated that local press in Türkiye has been shrinking due to the merger policy implemented by the Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) since 2012. He emphasized that local newspapers, which are dependent on official advertisement revenues, have been unable to withstand rising costs and thus have resorted to merging or shutting down.
Prof. İrvan noted: “Within the framework of the policy introduced in 2012 to reduce the number of newspapers by merging them, newspapers in 45 provincial centers and 3 districts have been consolidated so far. Before the mergers, the number of local newspapers was 467; now it has dropped to 118.”
He underlined that having only one newspaper left in a city is not something to be proud of.
Prof. Süleyman İrvan, Head of the Journalism Department at Üsküdar University Faculty of Communication, provided a detailed evaluation of the closure of local newspapers.
Local press is shrinking!
Prof. İrvan explained that BİK’s so-called “merger” policies have caused a dramatic decline in the number of local newspapers published in 45 provincial centers and 3 districts: “With the hope of alleviating the troubles of local media, BİK introduced in 2012 a policy of reducing newspapers through mergers. To date, newspapers in 45 provinces and 3 districts have been consolidated. As a result, the number of local newspapers has fallen from 467 to 118.”
Many journalists lost their jobs!
Recalling that local newspapers already struggling with economic hardships were also subjected to BİK’s forced mergers, Prof. İrvan said: “This situation negatively impacted journalist employment and caused many journalists to lose their jobs.” Quoting journalist Hüseyin Arslan, who warned that “the journalism profession is at risk of extinction,” Prof. İrvan highlighted that BİK’s advertisement policies have transformed into a commercial system under the label of “tender journalism.”
The plurality of local democracy has been restricted
Providing striking examples from different provinces, Prof. İrvan reported that the number of newspapers in Afyonkarahisar dropped from 21 to 2, in Amasya from 5 to 1, and in Ardahan from 15 to 2. He noted that even in major cities such as Ankara, Antalya, and Balıkesir, the number of newspapers has rapidly decreased. In Bartın, the number went from 5 to 1; in Bayburt, from 9 to 1; and in Bingöl, also from 9 to 1. He stressed that this trend restricts both the plurality of local democracy and the public’s right to information.
Newspapers were explicitly told to “merge”
Drawing attention to the pressures exerted by BİK, Prof. İrvan pointed out that although agency officials avoid using the word “pressure,” reports from local media tell a different story. He cited a newspaper owner in Malatya, who said: “They showed us death so we would consent to malaria. They threatened us covertly. They imposed merging on us.” He also recalled that in cities such as Edirne and Adana, newspapers were explicitly told to “merge.”
The public’s right to information has been restricted
Calling for a reassessment of BİK’s policies and the future of local media in Türkiye, Prof. İrvan concluded his remarks as follows: “When will we realize that forcing newspapers to merge and reducing their numbers is not a sound media policy? The merger policy has resulted in the disappearance of many newspapers but has produced no positive outcome: circulation has not increased, nor have higher-quality newspapers emerged. On the contrary, many journalists have lost their jobs. The reduction in newspaper diversity has also hindered the functioning of local democracy and restricted the public’s right to information. Having just one newspaper left in a city is certainly nothing to boast about.”