Political economy of local press in the new media age: The case of Antalya province

The new media age has brought about significant changes in the communication industry, and mass media, influenced by private capital, now operates in a structure driven more by commercial profit motives than a mechanism for public benefit. Local press, operating in regions where it has significant effects by overseeing local governance, expressing local issues and needs for resolution, is an influential tool in mass communication. However, through its economic and political relationship with local capital, it can also function instrumentally in regulating local-level political and commercial interest relationships, operating under private capital. In the context of these dynamics, local press plays a crucial role as a mass communication tool, and the impact of strong and quality journalism by the local press is critically important for the healthy functioning of democracy. The new media age has both positively and negatively influenced local press, opening doors for them to broadcast their voice to the world through the internet while also allowing them to generate comprehensive advertising revenue beyond official announcement incomes. Despite these developments, the existing problems of local press have not changed in the new media age; rather, they have brought about different challenges. Issues such as declining newspaper reading and purchasing rates, decreasing circulations, the shift of advertising budgets to new media environments, rising costs due to economic problems, and insufficient official announcement revenues are prominent challenges in the new media age. Dependent on official announcement revenues and under the influence of private capital, the local press is increasingly suppressed in its oppositional aspect, facing the dual pressures from advertisers and patronage. With the transformative effects of the new media age, local press struggles to sustain its existence under challenging conditions. In a study conducted to understand the economic and political relationships at the local level that local newspapers establish in the context of economic changes, to examine the strategies local newspapers employ in the economic and political context while maintaining their existence, and to understand the importance of local newspapers generating income beyond official announcement revenues in the digital age, current findings were obtained. Using the example of Antalya province, this study conducted in-depth interviews with the owners and editors-in-chief of local newspapers operating in the city center, and the data collected were analyzed through descriptive analysis to evaluate the research questions. The study analyzed the problems of local newspapers in the new media age, post-internet journalism practices, structural and economic changes, the use of social media and income generation practices, commercial advertising relationships and their effects on journalism, the impact of official announcements on local press, and the effects of political and commercial relationships on local press expenses within the economic and political perspective of Antalya local press. Keywords: New Media, Local Press, Official Announcement, Economy Politics, Media