As Turkey’s Protests Continue, Attention Falls on Failures of Turkish Media
By Pelin Turgut / Istanbul June 06,
As epic clashes between antigovernment protesters and riot police turned downtown Istanbul into a battle zone last weekend, the country’s two main news channels had, well, not much to report. One ran a documentary on penguins. The other, a cooking show. To many Turks, their silence was symptomatic of the self-censorship Turkey’s media have practiced under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s tightfisted 10-year rule. Penguin T-shirts, penguin jokes and penguin costumes now abound — the bird has become a symbol of protesters’ frustration with the mainstream media.
More:Turkey: As Protests Continue, a Focus on Failures of Nation’s Media | TIME.com
