Reporting human rights violations in Turkey

In this paper Reporting human rights violations in Turkey Kemal Göktaş (Journalist Fellow Oct 2017 – April 2018) looks at the development and decline of the Turkish media, and how journalists have coped with its turbulent politics.

Göktaş’ surveyed 133 Turkish journalists – 20% of whom work for pro-government media outlets. As well as analysing these responses, Göktaş carried out content analysis of human rights violations coverage in four major Turkish newspapers: Sabah (pro-government), Hürriyet (neutral), Sözcü (nationalistic) and Cumhuriyet (leftist).

The findings show all journalists – including many journalists writing for pro-government outlets – fear prosecution for their work, and frequently self-censor their writing.

As with all Fellows’ research papers, any opinions expressed are those of the author and not of the Institute.

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