Financial structure of press business enterprising in Turkey: The problems and results

Although press business enterprises have some characteristics similar to others, they operate through unique variables at various phases ranging from production to consumption. These variables such as capital, cost, expense-income, product and ownership structure and organizational structure have transformed and evolved within its specific framework. Therefore, due to idea generation and ideological inducement, which are the main distinctive features of press business enterprises, it is necessary to deal with them within the scope of ownership structure of press and critical economy politics. As one of the sources of reference in media critics or analyses, critical economy politics approach examines media within the framework of its historical position, ideological, cultural and socio-economic functions as well as its relationships. At this point, it can be said that production practices, which were revised and restructured based on neo-liberal policies that emerged in 1980s both in the world and Turkey, have also altered the way media works and its relationships. Since these enterprises operate under free market conditions and are now called "media" rather than "press", they are forced to merge with large holdings operating in different sectors in order to survive in competitive market conditions. The sine qua non relationship of media with the ruling power in a country since its emergence in history has resulted in a relationship structure increasingly dependent on these ruling powers at economic, social and political levels because such enterprises need strong capital and financial structure to succeed in. In today's world, media business enterprises are no longer companies merely focusing on profit-loss calculations. They have turned into a sector on which many entrepreneurs are looking forward to make investments due to their indirect incomes and effective feasibility analyses. Media owners who survive in this sector at the expense of loss -let alone profits-, cause the emergence of a sort of homogenous media structure that merely finances other business sectors their holdings operate in. This study evaluates the current status of media in terms of its structure that has evolved as a result of certain practices, which had never been experienced in Turkish context before, during the rule of a strong conservative party since 2002 in the country. The data for the study were collected through the examination of case studies and interviews conducted with a group of representatives of press sector. The results of the study showed that media has transformed into a structure serving for a new mentality in terms of structure, financing and business administration. As for the current status of press business enterprising, it can be said that it functions as a sector bringing indirect advantages to their owners in other business sectors available within the operating range of the holdings. Keywords: Press Business, Turkish Press History, Ownership Structure, Political Economy Of Media.