The jurisdiction of the Press Advertising Agency, the basic duty of which is to distribute public ads in the printed editions of newspapers has been expanded to cover online media. There are concerns over whether the institution, which has issued public ads reduction penalties to many opposition newspapers will carry out fair regulation

HİKMET ADAL, İSTANBUL

Back in 1961, a state organization was decided to be established to end the practice of the time which brought newspapers and the government to loggerheads over allegations of unfair distribution of press public ads. This organization was named the Press Advertising Agency.

The 61-year-old institution currently issues official public ads and adverts in 953 newspapers. As of the end of 2021, it had distributed TL 613 million to newspapers from its own funding.

The Press Advertising Agency’s powers, which were fundamentally limited to the distribution of public ads, were expanded with the “disinformation” law, or the law on censorship, as the public knows it, that entered into force upon publication in the Official Gazette on 18 October 2022.

The institution, which is obliged with distributing public ads among newspapers fairly, without distinction as to opinions and content, had long been at the focus of criticism for taking sides, the penalties it issued and the cancellation of public ad publication rights.

Around one month before the “disinformation” law passed through parliament, the Press Advertising Agency had cancelled the Evrensel newspaper’s right to run official public ads on various pretexts.

With the new law, the Press Advertising Agency has transformed from a platform for distributing income into a regulatory organization that can issue penalties to publications, like the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK). Furthermore, although its powers were limited to print editions before, the institution now has jurisdiction over internet media as well.

This being the case, there are questions as to whether the institution with its newly expanded powers will be able to carry out a fair distribution.

Polat: “It has become a means of censorship”

According to Fatih Polat, editor-in-chief of Evrensel, in the hands of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government the Press Advertising Agency has become a mechanism of censorship and financial intimidation.

Stating that the institution had been established following the destruction caused by the strict censorship implemented by the Democrat Party on the press, Polat says “The Press Advertising Agency spends the people’s taxes. It was established to ensure that the newspapers people bought from vendors could continue publishing and to guarantee the press against governments’ practices of creating a ‘dependent press.’ However, with the transformation to the Presidential System of Government that systematized the AKP government’s one-man rule and the related establishment of the Presidency of Communications, the Press Advertising Agency has fully become a means of government censorship.”

What is the source of the problems?

According to Polat, if one publishes in line with the policies of the government, the flow of public ads continues without issue, but if practices critical journalism, that is where the problems begin:

“If you are close to the government, you do not face an audit even if you heavily inflate your sales numbers through various tricks and receive official public ads based on a very high multiplier. However, if you run a newspaper that features opposition news, you gradually face a double reality. Various pretexts are produced, from the headlines you pick to the news you make and public ad suspension penalties are implemented based on completely subjective criteria.

“If, like Evrensel you are seen as an ‘incorrigible’ newspaper, this time measures are taken to cancel your right to run official public ads, in ways that are rarely encountered.

“Press Advertising Agency employees go from vendor to vender and identify people buying more than one copy of Evrensel like intelligence agents, treat them as ‘copies bought by newspaper employees to ensure adequate sales numbers to receive public ads’ and cut your public ads.”

Is it punishment?

As Polat says, Evrensel has not been able to receive public ads from the Press Advertising Agency since September 2019. In August 2022, the right of the newspaper to run public ads was cancelled for good. As Polat puts it, the newspaper “was robbed of its right to public ads.”

Polat gives the following example to illustrate how much the Press Advertising Agency has changed:

“Evrensel was issued a three-day suspension on public ads because we reported on the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality demolishing the construction carried out by President of Communications Fahrettin Altun on land he rented and the police calling in Cumhuriyet newspaper reporters who initially reported the news for a statement. The suspension was issued upon a complaint by Altun’s lawyer Sezgin Tunç.

“So, the Press Advertising Agency penalized us in the name of the President of Communications under whom it operates. Place this decision where it deserves in the world history of censorship.”

“An AKP institution”

On the expansion of the Press Advertising Agency’s jurisdiction to cover internet media, Polat said the following:

“The meaning of allowing for the possibility of official public ads on internet media under the present circumstances is that they must accept a line of publishing that will not anger the government over what was the case before, when they were relatively free. If they do not abide by this, they will first face public ad suspensions and then the cancellation of the right to publish public ads.

“In its current state, the Press Advertising Agency has become an institution that exercises pro-government control over the press, which should be supported by the people’s taxes by an institution which is paid by the people’s taxes.

“It has completely turned into an AKP institution. I think it is an institution that has no prospect to recover, and it completely rejects its founding principles.”

Gökhan Durmuş: The number of members has increased to 42, nothing has changed

Gökhan Durmuş, President of the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) started off his criticism of the new powers granted by the law with the number of members on the plenary of the institution rising from 36 to 42.

According to Durmuş, the Plenary of the Press Advertising Agency consists of people from government circles. Durmuş said “Of the 42 people, 14 are appointed directly by the government, while another 14 so-called independents are also appointed by the government. Of the remaining 14, all but five consist of the owners of newspapers close to the government.”

Durmuş’s second criticism concerns the ambiguity of the law. Despite the law passing through parliament, it remains unclear how the public ads are to be distributed. There is currently no regulation on this matter.

“With the censorship law, news websites will also be able to run public ads. News websites will also come under the Press Advertising Agency’s regulation. This will lead to new crises. The legislation does not make it clear how public ads will be distributed.

“The heart of the matter is, in the coming period, the Press Advertising Agency will run public ads in the newspapers and news websites it wants and will do whatever it will have to do to not run public ads in those it does not want.”

“The AKP has subverted the autonomous structure of the institution”

Durmuş adds that this outlook is no different than what was the case before and argues that the institution will continue to make the news with the “unlawful penalties” it will issue to opposition media outlets in the coming period.

Speaking of the past, Durmuş, unlike Polat, states that the transformation of the Press Advertising Agency began in the 2010s and provides examples from penalties issued in the last seven years:

“The AKP government has subverted the autonomous structure of the Press Advertising Agency. We can see more clearly how this was done when we look at the appointed General Directors from 2010 onwards.

“In recent years, with the AKP government taking full control of the institution and the representation of journalists’ organizations remaining limited, the Press Advertising Agency has become a means of pressure.

“It has become an institution harming the freedom of the press with the public ad suspension penalties it issues to those criticizing government policy and writing about problems, especially opposition media outlets. With the Principles of Press Ethics regulation its board of directors has published, they are trying to legitimize the penalties.

Renan Akyavaş: “We are concerned”

Renan Akyavaş, Turkey Program Coordinator of the International Press Institute (IPI) lists his concerns, like Polat and Durmuş.

Akyavaş points out that in an ideal order the newly expanded control of the Press Advertising Agency over news websites would be a necessary and beneficial step forwards, but objectively there is no basis for it.

Akyavaş says, “Today the function fulfilled by the Press Advertising Agency is that of a punishment mechanism that suspends the public ad rights of critical newspapers or cancels them completely.”

Akyavaş says “We are concerned that under the new media order, similar practices will be implemented against news websites that publish independent and high-quality content. This will further deepen the freedom and diversity of the press issue in Turkey and will place media outlets that continue to publish despite all obstructions under significant financial pressure.”

According to Süleyman İrvan, the new law spells the end of newspapers

Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, Head of the Department of Journalism of the Faculty of Communications at Üsküdar University says that the Press Public ads Institution is of vital importance, especially for local media and that the TL 612 million distributed in 2021 constituted a significant source of income for newspapers.

Saying “Of course there is the need for an organization that will distribute these public ads and adverts according to fair and objective criteria” and emphasizes the necessity of an organization such as the Press Advertising Agency.

However, İrvan criticizes the transformation of the Press Advertising Agency and the powers granted to the institution with the new law:

“The powers of the Press Advertising Agency were expanded with the new legislation. In addition to print-edition newspaper and magazines, news websites are now included within the jurisdiction of the Press Advertising Agency. The declared basic aim is to allow news websites to benefit from official public ads and announcements The article in question will come into force on 1 April 2023. We will see after then how and to whom the official public ads and announcements are distributed.

“There is however the following problem: At present the Press Advertising Agency distributes the public ads among approximately 800 newspapers. Now the online media will want a piece of that pie.

“There are an estimated 10,000 news websites in Turkey. We do not yet know how many of them will benefit from the right to run official public ads. Even if half of them met the criteria, it would make 5,000 news websites. I’m worried that printed newspapers will come out worse from this practice and many newspapers will face the prospect of shutting down due to economic difficulties. Already troubled local newspapers may face extinction.

“Then there is of course the Principles of Press Ethics which the Press Advertising Agency wants to implement but has had to suspend for now due to the Constitutional Court ruling. The new legislation cites the Principles of Press Ethics. The legislation reads “In the event that the owner of the press card acts in violation of the Principles of Press Ethics, the Commission may decide to issue a warning to the owner of the press card or cancel the press card depending on the nature of the violation. The procedure and basis are established in the relevant regulation. This means that the Press Advertising Agency will not only penalize newspapers and news websites with the suspension of public ads and announcements over the Principles of Press Ethics, but can also penalize journalists. We will see what sort of consequences this will have.”

“The Press Advertising Agency does not support free journalism”

When asked “Is expanded powers granted to the Press Advertising Agency an obstacle to free journalism,” İrvan responded: “I can at least say that it does not support free journalism due to its recent controversial decisions” and added:

“The Press Advertising Agency will do far more good for journalism if it issues fair, balanced and objective decisions as a state institution. What we expect from it is not to discriminate in practice among newspapers, not to use its powers as a means of pressure over newspapers, not to pass judgement of subjective issues that come under ethics of journalism such as with the Principles of Press Ethics and to support self-regulation practices such as the press council, the media board of ethics and the media ombudsperson when necessary.”