No. 25 2020 This is not journalism. Mapping new definitions of journalism in German exile Kübra Zeynep Sarıaslan, University of Zurich Abstract Keywords: anthropology of media, exile, solidarity, project-based journalism, This article aims to present a picture of Turkish journal- Turkish–German context ism in German exile. By Turkish journalism, I refer to the production and circulation of news about Turkey, in Turk- groups, which are dependent on the state (Yeşil 2016; ish and for a Turkish-speaking audience – primarily those Sözeri and Güney 2011). At the same time, alternative living in Turkey. By German exile, I mean journalists who means of news production and circulation through digi- have migrated from Turkey since 2010 due to the coun- talised media have existed in Turkey since the late 1990s. try’s increasingly oppressive political climate, which has The control over a greatly diversified media loosened made journalism a dangerous profession there. Under- slightly after the start of the European Union (EU) acces- standing news in this context as the outcome of process- sion process in 2005 and with the advancement of tech- es of transnational transfer of knowledge and experience nology.1 An environment in which freedom of the press from one regime to another, I ask how dissident Turkish flourished was mainly the result of the efforts of inde- journalists currently living in exile in Germany practise pendent journalists and activists in Turkey and also in Eu- their profession from a distance, and what tools they use rope, who launched monthly magazines, television chan- to critically engage with the overall political situation in nels and online platforms to produce and circulate stories Turkey. For this project, I have been carrying out ethno- not covered by the powerful news media companies that graphic research in Berlin since November 2018. This dominate the mainstream media (Ayata 2011). research stands at the intersection of the anthro pology However, this short period in which the European Com- of journalism and transnational migration. In the light of mission’s progress reports indicated improvements re- mapping the journalism scene in Berlin through this filter, I garding freedom of expression in Turkey (B. Erdem 2017) anchor historical foundations of the current migrant media only lasted until the authoritarian turn of Erdoğan’s Justice scene where paths cross each other to understand their and Development Party (AKP) in the late 2000s (Özyürek, political references and to situate them in the context of Özpınar, and Altındiş 2019). Turkish–German migration. Then, I discuss the process Thus, it is not surprising that different newspapers print of project-based journalism, by exploring the challenges the same stories with identical headlines, nor that cover- and opportunities offered by the conditions within which age of critical issues is suppressed in a climate of rigid journalists can practise their profession from a physical and overwhelming censorship – which includes self- and temporal distance. Reviewing the choice of the audi- censorship among journalists. Although in the aftermath ence that journalists aim to target, I also show how they of the Taksim Gezi Park protests in 2013, journalists be- meet a need for community media that had remained un- came more daring in their criticism of state practices, the addressed in the Turkish–German context, in connection government gradually intensified political pressure on the to the difficulty of establishing solidarities among them- press and managed to silence oppositional public figures. selves. Finally, I discuss recent debates on what journal- Akser and Baybars-Hawks (2012) identify five systemic ism should be – or what happens to the expertise when pressures on journalists in Turkey: conglomerate pressure, activism and profession collide. judicial suppression, online banishment, surveillance def- amation (damaging reputation by not banning circulation Introduction of private information gathered through surveillance) and Conditions in Turkey have never been conducive to the accreditation discrimination. The law regulating the Inter- kind of journalism that could function as a ‘fourth estate’ net in Turkey was changed in 2013, after the release of in- (Albayrak 2019). For many years, the media has been formation about corruption involving members of the gov- under the unofficial control of the military, the guardian ernment. With these changes, the government extended of secularism and nationalism as establishment princi- its authority to block or ban entire websites and was able ples (Duran 2000; Yeşil 2016). Although the first coup of to take control of DNS to track the web activity of citizens 1960 introduced certain regulations seemingly in favour (Akgül and Kırlıdoğ 2015). Reports have demonstrated of journalists, to protect them from press owners , military that thousands of news articles have been banned from regimes rolled back these limited rights following subse- quent coups (Kurban and Sözeri 2013). After the coup in 1 Alternative means of news production and circulation through digita- lised options existed in Turkey already in the late 1990s, for example, 1980, the media became closely connected to business in the form of video activism and earlier practices of activist groups. www.leibniz-zmo.de zmo working papers 25 · 2020 · 1 online news portals in Turkey for political reasons (Akdeniz There have been many interconnected waves of migra- and Güven 2019).2 tion from Turkey to Germany since the first guest workers, With the statutory decrees released by the government mostly coming from rural areas, arrived in the 1960s, after since the declaration of a state of emergency after the the West German government started to recruit workers failed coup attempt in summer 2016, the vast majority of from abroad. During the political turmoil in the 1970s, alternative or oppositional online news channels in Tur- after the coup of September 1980 and throughout the key were closed down – together with print media – and armed conflict between Turkey and guerrilla fighters of their archives made inaccessible. As a result, the European the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), people from Turkey Parliament reiterated its decision to place a temporary sought refuge in Germany. In the last few years, many freeze on accession talks with Turkey in 2017 (Philippe highly skilled workers have arrived in search of better job 2019). Moreover, the mission report funded by the EU opportunities. Finally, the coup attempt in 2016 created and prepared by several international press institutions its own wave: academics, artists and journalists have illustrates that press freedom has not improved since the emigrated to Germany by mobilising existing social and state of emergency was lifted in July 2018. Instead, new historical ties. In this process, self-exiled journalists have regulations were introduced that facilitate cancellation of established new media networks and communities. Op- the ‘yellow’ press cards that allow journalists to access pression of journalists in Turkey was a popular topic until high-level government press conferences and events recently in Germany. During the first months of 2017, new (Luque 2019). Turkish-language media platforms were launched one Ethnographic research confirms that the conditions for after the other in Germany, where academics and jour- ‘the participation of journalists as the custodians of public nalists coming from Turkey were welcomed.3 Meanwhile, interest in the public sphere based on the principle of com- Deutsche Welle paid close attention to developments in mon good’ have disappeared in Turkey (Aşık 2017, 69). Turkey, enlarged its Turkish services and in this way cre- Nowadays, the financial support of international organi- ated job opportunities for opposition journalists. sations enables a limited number of online news portals In my research, I ask how dissident Turkish journalists cur- to survive. According to the website of the Turkey Jour- rently living in exile in Germany perceive practising their nalists Association, 10,000 journalists have lost their jobs profession from a distance. With this broad main ques- over the last ten years (Özer 2019). The report says that in tion at hand, I have been doing ethnographic fieldwork 2017, 520 journalists faced prosecution under the Turkish in Germany since November 2018 to discover what tools Penal Code and Anti-Terror Law. Together, these journal- they use to critically engage with the overall political situ- ists faced 237 penal servitude for life and 3,672 years and ation in Turkey. In this article, I aim at mapping the migrant six months in prison (Önderoğlu 2018). However, this re- journalism scene and developing a better understanding port was not updated in 2018 by its author Erol Önderoğlu, of journalism itself as a changing profession. I argue that who is also the Turkey representative of Reporters With- journalists in exile do not consider themselves migrants, out Borders, because he was facing a number of trials, and do not believe that they are practising ‘the ideal jour- having been accused of ‘terrorist propaganda’, ‘justify- nalism’ due to the changed circumstances they have faced ing crime’ and ‘inciting crime’ (RSF 2019). Moreover, the after moving to Germany, including in (i) media ownership news website Bianet, which published the report men- relations, which rely heavily on volunteer supporters, and tioned above, was recently ordered blocked by a judge