Keyword – alternative

Somlyai, Özge:

The Changing Scope and Role of Alternative Media in Countering Authoritarian Narratives in Turkey

This article examines how fear has been institutionalised in Turkey’s media environment under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) headed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and how alternative news outlets, created and managed by professional journalists and including Bianet, Medyascope, and T24, exhibited resilience in countering the regime’s authoritarian narratives. It also explores AKP’s systematic efforts to transform mainstream media into propaganda tools through legal, economic, and regulatory measures. Relying on semi-structured interviews conducted with journalists from these news outlets, media scholars, and political scientists, it studies the evolving scope of alternative news media in Turkey. While Medyascope and T24 now view themselves as pioneering actors creating and shaping space for ‘new mainstream media,’ Bianet remains an important representative of alternative media in the country. By embracing digital platforms, fostering investigative practices, and amplifying voices unheard or suppressed, these outlets challenge the AKP Government’s fear-driven narratives and create space for democratic dialogue. Thus, this study contributes to broader debates on the role of media and more specifically on the role of professional journalists in sustaining (counter-)public spaces in authoritarian contexts by emphasising the resilience of journalists and the evolving nature of alternative media in Turkey.

Keywords: alternative, journalism, mainstream, media, Turkey