The relation between mainstream media and political power in Turkey in 2000s and its consequences in terms of journalism

This study which analyses the relation between the mainstream media and political power and its consequences on journalism in Turkey focuses on The Justice and Development Party (AKP) period started in 2002. How the mainstream media positioned against the political power, how AKP reorganized the media order, how these processes resulted in terms of journalism are questioned. In this study, AKP's 13 years in power and the interventions they applied to media are analysed with critical political economy approach. In-depth interviews were made with 20 journalists whose majority was employed in the mainstream media in order to understand how journalism has changed during AKP period. The findings obtained from the research showed that the pressure on journalists increased in the last 13 years. Besides, the research gave a chance to discuss the interventions to the media with the examples inside.