The Impact of Alternative Media upon Turkish Democracy
Consumption undoubtedly determines what and how things are produced. The increasing decline in television and print media consumption and the growing preference for new media types have spearheaded the development of new media in Turkey. In fact, the people have lost their trust in traditional media in Turkey since there many factors in that such as political parties pay money to purchase these entities, and they get news reports published in their own favor. Therefore, people - mostly Gen Z individuals - follow alternative media sources. There is an intertwined relation between media consumers and media producers. For this reason, it contributes to the development of participatory democracy.
This paper will discuss that relationship between the state and traditional media; moreover, it will delve what Habermas’ communicative power theory is, and its relation to alternative media and democracy. This paper will articulate the improvement of alternative media in Turkey, and it will claim that the media type is crucial to the improvement of democracy in Turkey.
While the problematic relationship between mainstream media and political powers in Türkiye is not a new phenomenon, but the radical changes in media ownership structure over the last two decades have transformed this problem into a structural crisis. The fact that media moguls also operate in sectors dependent on public tenders and state regulations, such as energy, construction, mining, and finance, has created a deep conflict of interest (Yeşil, 2016). This economic dependence has led to the internalization of self-censorship in newsrooms and the media functioning as a public relations and communication tool for the government.
Traditional media has long failed to reflect the voices of different segments of society. For example, until 2009, Kurds and the Kurdish political movement did not have any television channels, and their newspapers were consistently banned when they tried to establish them. Furthermore, traditional media in Turkey consistently ignores LGBT+ individuals. Therefore, mainstream media channels in Turkey have mostly become monolithic and do not reflect the voice of the majority. With capital positioned alongside the government, even private channels other than the state-owned TRT have become tools of government propaganda. According to Çarkoğlu and Yavuz (2010), this kind of controlled media environment weakens democratic accountability mechanisms by preventing voters from accessing objective and critical information.
(KisaDalga, 2026)
Blue: TV - Green: Online (Web/App) - Yellow: Social media - Grey: Printed press - Red: AI
This graphic demonstrates the usage of media sources in Turkey, showing how much the use of traditional media types has declined from 2018 to the present. It is possible to see a continuous decline in the consumption of television and print media. In fact, we can see that the weekly usage of all variants except artificial intelligence has decreased over the years. As I mentioned before, the biased stance of television channels and print media, in particular, is undermining trust among the public and Generation Z.
Turkey has only one state television channel, TRT. Especially since the military coups in Turkey's history and the transition to a presidential system with Erdoğan's 2017 referendum, TRT has become a broadcasting organ directly promoting the government. Therefore, politicians from other parties are not given any airtime. On the other hand, some private television channels only promote the main opposition party, CHP. This situation constitutes a limitation of the topics covered in the media. Consequently, with the development of new media, people's perception of old-style media is changing, and its consumption is decreasing.
It is at this point that Habermas's theory of democracy and communicative power theory comes into play in order to address the democratic damage created by traditional media. Habermas actually puts forward this theory as a criticism of elitist democracy, where democracy is reduced solely to elections and individual participation is absent. Habermas (1996) bases the foundation of democratic legitimacy on the concept of "communicative power." Communicative power is the collective civic will formed by citizens coming together under equal conditions, free from coercion, and producing free and rational arguments.
In traditional media, journalists either work for a particular media outlet based on its political affiliation, or their writing and content are limited to whichever politician or political party the media owner is funding. On the other hand, in new media, for example, on social media channels, consumers are not only consumers but can also actively participate and become part of the production process. This is why many journalists with a sizable following are resigning from their traditional media jobs to start their own web newspapers or YouTube channels, where their work is subject to far fewer restrictions. Therefore, new media (alternative media) grants individuals a space for freedom of expression.
According to communicative power theory, this will contribute to democracy. Otherwise, since the media is completely dominated by institutional power, it will alienate individuals from rationality and become a propaganda tool of the communication bureaucracy. If, in a country, the media ceases to be a public space where communicative power is produced and becomes merely a propaganda tool of administrative power, then democracy is undermined. From a Habermasian perspective, traditional media in Türkiye, instead of nurturing communicative reason, suppresses and manipulates it. Therefore, there is a need for new platforms where citizens can regenerate their own communicative power, free from economic domination and censorship.
Alternative media, born as a reaction against the bureaucratic and elitist structure of traditional media, is constructing new public spaces in Turkey through various social media applications, podcasts, and live broadcasts. These new media outlets are able to remain largely free from the pressure of large capital groups and state subsidies in Türkiye. Therefore, many issues that are not addressed by mainstream media become more widely discussed in these new public spaces. Alternative media is vital for the construction of communicative power, as proposed by Habermas, from the bottom up – that is, from individuals to the government. As I have mentioned before, citizens are transforming from passive recipients into active participants. Even today, many civil society organizations can participate in political decision-making processes by creating public opinion and protesting against the government through social media, thus becoming a mechanism of oversight over the government.
Certainly, such an environment has its disadvantages. For example, the formation of echo chambers or the rapid spread of misinformation can be notable and damaging drawbacks. Nevertheless, the fact that new media offers a freer space, enabling the formation of new public spheres, and that, in Kant's words, free, rational, and mature individuals create these spaces and facilitate communication, is important for the development of Turkish democracy. Mediascope, T24, Serbestiyet, Yeni Arayış, and many independent journalists have contributed to the development of this space in Turkey.
In conclusion, democracy is not merely a phenomenon that can be reduced to the voting and selection processes of citizens. Individuals are constructing a new public sphere by communicating more freely and rationally through new media. This reveals the oversight mechanism that civil society creates over power mechanisms, making it indispensable for the development of democracy.
References
- Yeşil, B. (2016). Media in new Turkey: The origins of an authoritarian neoliberal state. University of Illinois Press.
- Çarkoğlu, A., & Yavuz, G. (2010). Press-party parallelism in Turkey: An individual level interpretation. Turkish Studies, 11(4), 613-624. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2010.540114
- Habermas, J. (1996). Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. MIT Press.
- Kısa Dalga. (2026, Haziran 20). Oxford raporu: Türkiye’de medyaya güven çöküyor, bağımsız yayıncılık zorda. https://kisadalga.net/haber/gundem/oxford-raporuturkiyede-medyaya-guven-cokuyor-bagimsiz-yayincilik-zorda-138758
Author: Deniz Nas
This article was produced by a participant from the European Liberal Youth LYMEC with the financial support of the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The opinions expressed in this article are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe.
in Libertas
Office LYMEC
30 September 2026Share this post
Always First.
Be the first to find out all the latest events, news, and opportunities LYMEC has in store for you.
Thanks for registering!
Our blogs
Archive
The Impact of Alternative Media upon Turkish Democracy