As epic clashes between antigovernment protesters and riot police turned downtown Istanbul into a battle zone last weekend, the country’s two main news channels had, well, not much to report. One ran a documentary on penguins. The other, a cooking show. To many Turks, their silence was symptomatic of the self-censorship Turkey’s media have practiced under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tightfisted 10-year rule. Penguin T-shirts, penguin jokes and penguin costumes now abound — the bird has become a symbol of protesters’ frustration with the mainstream media. “Our audience feels like they were betrayed,” said NTV chief executive Cem Aydin on Tuesday after a meeting with staff, some of whom resigned in protest at the lack of coverage. Criticism of the channel was “fair to a large extent,” he said. Protests are now in their 10th day. They initially began over plans to raze a park in central Istanbul but soon turned into a mass outpouring of anger against the government and have spread to more than 60 cities in Turkey. Curbs on press freedom rank high among demonstrators’ grievances, alongside concern over the government’s authoritarian manner and Islamist-influenced agenda. (MORE: Dodging Tear Gas Over Discussion of Turkey’s Financial Future) Critics say Erdogan’s government has sought to control the media by levying heavy tax fines and seizing the assets of media firms perceived to be critical of his administration. Many large media companies also own businesses in fields like energy, banking and mining. Though the government denied any political motivation in those cases, the end result has been a deferential approach on the part of mainstream news outlets to government policies. Controversial journalists were quietly asked to leave. News items were whitewashed. Meanwhile, Erdogan often sued cartoonists and journalists who criticized him. According to an online poll by Istanbul’s Bilgi University this week, 84% of demonstrators in Istanbul cited lack of media coverage among reasons for joining the protests, compared with 56% who cited the destruction of the park. (PHOTOS: Turmoil in Istanbul: Guy Martin at Turkey’s Gezi Park Protests) On Sunday, for example,![]()
