Newspaper circulation further drops, more books published in Turkey in 2021

Photo: AA

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Both the number of newspapers and magazines and their circulation decreased in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to figures announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) today (July 25).

The number of publications, with 53.6 percent of the magazines, dropped by 6 percent in a year to 4,460, the figures showed.

Total annual circulation of newspapers and magazines decreased by 7.2 percent to 950 million. Newspapers' circulation made up 95.3 percent of this.

In the previous year, newspaper and magazine circulation had dropped by 20.9 percent and the number of newspapers and magazines had dropped by 13.9 percent.

The number of published books, however, increased by 11.1 percent in 2021. Some 87,231 ISBNs were assigned to books (72,052), electronic books (329), web-based electronic books (13,673), audio books (815) and other materials (362).

In 2020, the number of published books increased by 14.5 percent compared to the previous year.

Official ad fees

The Press Advertisement Institution (BİK) raised the money it channeled to newspapers and magazines through placement of public ads and announcements by 34.7 percent compared to the previous year.

The BİK distributed 612.6 million Turkish lira (~34,4 million US dollars) to newspapers and magazines in 2021.

The BİK funds had dropped by 2.6 percent in 2020.

☛ The BİK was founded in 1961 to support independent newspapers through public ads and notices. Over the past few years, it has been criticized for using ad bans as a punitive tool against newspapers critical of the government. Ads and notices placed by the BİK are an essential source of income for most independent outlets.

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 (AÖ/VK)