Transformation of local media in the neoliberal era: Examples of Kocaeli and Bolu

The critical political economy approach, which is positioned within the critical paradigm in communication studies, points out that production relations, which are the result of historical processes, are at the base of social structures. The phenomenon of commercialization of the media is directly related to the historical processes of the world and states. Neoliberal policies followed all over the world after the stagflation in the late 1970s have been one of the basic processes that formed the current structure of the media. With these policies, important results have emerged, such as the concentration of media ownership in the hands of certain capital groups and broadcasting policies shaped around commercial concerns. On the other hand, digitalization, which is a part of the neoliberal accumulation model, has expanded the field of activity of large capital groups and created an unlimited space for the advertising industry. As a result of neoliberal policies, a media structure dominated by monopolization and concentration and in which broadcasting policies prioritizing the public interest are abandoned for the sake of commercial concerns has become dominant in Turkey. In this research, the transformation created by neoliberal policies in the local media analyzed through the examples of Kocaeli and Bolu. In order to analyze the transformation of local media, in-depth interview were made with the journalists working in newspapers and televisions broadcasting in Kocaeli and Bolu. The neoliberal process of local media has been discussed under these themes: The change of ownership structure, advertising policies, media content, editorial independence and pluralistic media, unionization and wages and the effects of digitalization. When the findings are evaluated, it has been detected that: the media ownership structure in Kocaeli and Bolu is mostly in the hands of capital coming from outside the press, public broadcasting is abandoned at a high rate, commercial concerns are dominant in the editorial processes, especially in the field of advertising media organizations are dependent on large companies and local governments and the adverts of the Basın Ilan Kurumu, unionization does not work and wages are very low. In addition to this, the effects of the digitalization process have resulted in the decrease of qualified journalism and the tendency of publishing advertisements on the social media platforms. Keywords: Kocaeli media, Bolu media, Neoliberal transformation in local media, Political economy of media, In-depth interview