Gazete Duvar, one of Turkey's prominent independent news outlets, has decided to cease operations due to financial difficulties.
Vedat Zencir, owner of the outlet, cited Google’s algorithm changes that led to reduced website traffic as the primary reason for shutting down. "At this point, we have no reliable metrics to base our decisions on. This is now the biggest problem facing us. We are caught in the middle of the media desert created by Google, and we can no longer make projections," he told T24.
Gazete Duvar's editor-in-chief, Barış Avşar, also blamed Google in an article announcing the outlet's shutdown.
"With Google's algorithm changes, we have begun to suffer serious revenue losses, which we expected to continue," he wrote. "Being at the mercy of a global tech giant that is not accountable for its actions is a separate and current topic of discussion for journalism."
Avşar accused Google of "blatantly sabotaging the media since last year" and asserted that its practices disrupt the public's right to information.
Several media outlets in Turkey recently complained about significant decreases in website traffic due to Google's algorithm changes. Google has long faced criticism for allegedly favoring outlets run by media congolomerates over independent sites.
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Gazete Duvar was founded in 2016, in the wake of the closure of several newspapers by statutory decrees issued during the state of emergency following the coup attempt that year.
It was owned by Vedat Zencir, Türkiye’s first conscientious objector, and its founding editor-in-chief was Ali Duran Topuz. The platform also featured contributions from Academics for Peace, scholars dismissed from universities under emergency decrees.
In 2021, Topuz stepped down and was replaced by Hakan Aksay, leading to the departure of several journalists. Barış Avşar later took over as editor-in-chief in 2022 and had been leading the newsroom since then. (HA/VK)
