03 February 2014

‘Frantic Crackdown’ on Media in Turkey

Reports charting declining media freedoms in Turkey are now being published with increasing regularity.

The latest, from U.S.-based Freedom House on Monday, slammed Turkey for a “frantic crackdown” on the media, and broadened its criticism to include Washington, which the think tank said fails to realize threats to the country’s democracy as the government tightens its grip on news outlets.

In a special report that dovetails a barrage of negative publicity on the declining state of press freedom in Turkey, Freedom House highlighted problems led by broadly interpreted antiterrorism laws; scores of jailed reporters; rampant firing of journalists for covering antigovernment protests and developments; and the media’s self-censorship driven by their owners’ other, non-media business interests. [The Wall Street Journal] Read more