"This edited volume presents ground-breaking empirical research on the media in political transition in Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco. Focusing on developments in the wake of the region’s upheavals in 2011, it offers a new theoretical framework for understanding mediascapes in the confessional and h
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ybrid-authoritarian systems of the Middle East. In this book, media scholars focus on three themes: the media’s structure as an expression of governance, the media’s function as a reflection of the market, and the media’s agency in communicating between power and the public. The result is a unique addition to the literature on two counts. Firstly, analysis of similar players, issues and processes in each country produces a thematically consistent comparative assessment of the media’s role across the southern Mediterranean region. The first cross-country comparison of specific media practices in the Middle East, it covers issues such as women in talk shows, media’s relationship with surveillance, and comparative practices of media regulation. Secondly, actualising the idea that media reflects the society that produces it, the studies here draw on field data to lay the foundations for a new theory of media, Values and Status Negotiation (VSN), which evolved from the region’s unique characteristics and practices, and offers an alternative to prevailing Western-centric approaches to media analysis." (Publisher description)
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"The structural problems in the media ownership in Turkey have been embedded in the political system since mid-1980s. With the AKP government’s tenure, the “media pool” of uncritical government support was formed and the major media outlets were pacified by means of financial threats, self-cen
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sorship or increased job insecurity. The most substantive problem involves the economic interests of media owners. Although Article 29 of Law no. 3984 restricts media owners to hold shares, owners who have stakes in other business sectors have been seen to influence cover-ups to favour their outside business interests. A significant number of media owners in Turkey belong to industrial conglomerates with interests that go beyond freedom of press and opinion – in addition to the close relationships between the government and some of these industrial conglomerates. Groups previously uninvolved in media activities have stepped into the sector, a move which has facilitated the development of oligopolistic structures. Indeed, an increasing concentration in media ownership – most notably regarding the activities of the Dogan, Dogus, Zirve, Albayrak, Çukurova, and Ciner Holding – can be easily observed in recent years." (Conclusions)
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