Three times as many men as women work in Turkey's local media

* Photo: Avkom Teknoloji

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The Media Studies Association (MEDAR) has shared the results of its "Local Media Database Research", which is supported by the ETKİNİZ (We are active / Your effect) European Union (EU) program. The research has shown that there 3,240 local media outlets operating across Turkey.

Carrying out a survey with 1,222 of these outlets, the MEDAR has found that local media outlets mostly concentrate in the Marmara (817 outlets), Mediterranean (587) and Aegean (494) regions and metropolitan cities.

While there are relatively lower numbers of media outlets in the Black Sea (465) and Central Anatolian (363) regions, the Eastern (252) and Southeastern (232) Anatolia rank on the bottom of the list.

When the local media outlets are considered by their provinces, İstanbul has the highest number of local media outlets as it is also the center of national press in Turkey. İstanbul is followed by Mersin, Bursa, İzmir, Adana and Antalya in terms of their numbers of local media outlets.

In the local media, news is mostly reported via "local newspapers" (1,542) and "local digital platforms" (1,197). There are a limited number of radio stations (263), TV channels (136) and magazines (118).

Publication/ Broadcast capacity

As the financial problems have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, local media outlets halt broadcasting and publication and their publication/ broadcast capacity and personnel shrink as a result.

The survey results have shown that 72 of the 1,222 local media outlets halted active broadcasting/ publication while 55 outlets have gone downsizing due to the problems caused by the pandemic.

The data has also indicated that there has been a development in the local media outlets in terms of digital broadcasting/ publication and social media use. However, the themes of their news content and their capacity to offer special news about the localities remain limited.

Rates of workers in local media

According to the survey results, the average number of workers is four in local media outlets and a limited number of personnel take on more than one duty. The highest number of workers is in the local TV channels and local newspapers. However, in the field, the number of reporters/ camera operators actively reporting news and women workers is strikingly low.

40.8 percent of the respondents do not have any reporters or camera operators actively making news in the field. When the average number of these workers is considered on the basis of outlets, there is generally only one reporter or camera operator (1.15 on average).

When the distribution of workers is considered on the basis of fields, the highest number of workers are in local newspapers (3,076 in total) and local digital news platforms (1,524 in total). However, when the average number of workers per outlet is concerned, the highest number of workers are seen to be in the local TV channels and local newspapers.

The data has also shown that the number of men working in the local media is more than two times the number of women. That is, while 68.7 percent (3,440) of the 4,996 people working in the local media are men, 31.3 percent (1,156) are women. (HA/SD)