With Turkey amid hotly contested elections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing for the first time a powerful independent media. But international rights groups watchdogs accuse Erdogan of seeking to silence critical journalism as he faces his most formidable reelection bid.
Dokuz8 Haber broadcasts news programs and produces reports with its nationwide network of reporters. It is one of a growing number of independent media platforms using social media and the web to cover May's presidential elections.
Media control
In previous polls, one of President Erdogan's key advantages was his vice-like grip on media coverage but not anymore.
"It's a time of change in Turkey, and this is something that is reflected in the media," explains Gokhan Bicici, Dokuz8Haber editor-in-chief.
"There are new moves a powerful independent media is developing, such as the growth of news channels and the enlargement of their sphere of influence," continues Bicici.
"I can even say that in terms of the number of viewers on election day, the audience and the followers of independent organizations will be much more than mainstream media. Thus, the effort of the government to establish a monopoly failed; they lost," he concluded.
But the government-controlled media regulatory authority, RTUK, is stepping up its fines on independent media stations- prompting condemnation by twenty international media and freedom of expression watchdogs.
"if there is a duty of regulation, this should not be weaponized against a critical TV station before these crucial elections," said Erol Onderoglu, Turkey representative for Paris-based Reporters without Borders.
"One of the most important and concerning feet of this problem is the weaponization of high audiovisual border, which is supposed to be independent of any kind of political interference, but which is precisely one of the weapon or crackdown tools under the hand of this government," added Onderoglu.
Partisanship charges
The government denies the charge of partisanship. But for independent stations like Halk tv, it says fines are a part of doing business but warns the real threat is closure ahead of the May elections.
"In our broadcasts, they can always find a reason for a penalty, a sentence, an interview, or a statement. And that is why we are always on alert," explains Halk TV News Editor in Chief, Bengu Sap Babaeker.
"We are always in expectation. Managers and fellow journalists are responsible for keeping this channel open. We are responsible for preventing a penalty that will close this channel down," she added.
Despite the risk of closure and fines, stations like Halk during February's deadly earthquake exposed government shortcomings, drawing large audiences. Analysts say such coverage has helped build independent media's reputation ahead of elections for fair but critical coverage.
"We're facing a renaissance of the Turkish media. It became evident in the earthquake period because we would not hear about the incapacity of the government had there not been the new voices of the media. They really did good reporting," observed Sezin Oney, a columnist at the Politikyol news portal.
"Good reporting is enough in itself," continued Oney. "It doesn't have to be just voicing the opposition's narrative or giving a voice to opposition politicians. But it's just reflecting what's happening on the ground, and that's really important for the election night as well."
New independent media tv channels have been launched in the run-up to the polls, with many reporters who've quit the industry returning to help cover an election that all sides claim is one of the most important in the Turkish republics' history.
