Doğan media and press freedom: Ends of opposite poles

But observers -- although they caution against the government punishing opposition media through tax fines -- have doubts about a media organization that has repeatedly ignored public interest for decades using the argument that “press freedom is in danger.”

“Decent journalism demands that you have editorial independence, that you defy self-censorship, that you do not run the errands of media owners, that you consistently show solidarity with news outlets and colleagues whenever the profession is under threat, that you respect dissent and diversity in the sector and you report freely in the name of public interest and nothing else.

None of these tenets were respected by the group's managers over the years. Doğan has viciously sought unchallenged dominance in the sector and used immoral methods to crush its rivals,” said the former president of the US-based Organization of News Ombudsmen (ONO), Yavuz Baydar, who interpreted the Finance Ministry's fine against Doğan Yayın Holding, the Doğan Group's subsidiary in the media industry, which runs newspapers such as Hürriyet and Milliyet, numerous magazines and TV stations including CNN-Türk.

The fine was issued on Sept. 8, after an earlier tax penalty of more than $500 million was leveled against the group in February for tax irregularities connected to the sale of a 25 percent stake in its television unit to German publisher Axel Springer AG. It is appealing that ruling. The latest fine was imposed due to the findings of investigations by inspectors that Doğan companies had concealed profits from share transfers among partner companies and had avoided paying corporate and value-added taxes (KDV) on the revenue from the transfers.

Doğan Yayın's initial reaction was to accuse Finance Ministry officials of discriminating against the group and assessing laws incorrectly. There are also reports that Doğan is seeking a settlement with officials rather than opening a lawsuit for the cancellation of the fine, the highest ever imposed on a Turkish company.

In addition, sources said some editors-in-chief from Doğan media outlets have been arguing in Europe and at the international level that the group has been fined because it has been the most critical of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government and that the fine is going to hurt freedom of the press.

‘Opposition’ or ‘opposing democratic values'

“The fact that the Doğan Group has announced it is not going to court but will seek arbitration indicates that the charges may not be arbitrary. Those in the Doğan Group who argue that the charges constitute an attack on press freedom never mention the fact that media barons in Turkey use their media power to extract favors from governments to enhance their non-media commercial interests. This fact alone may be sufficient to show that the greatest threat to press freedom in Turkey arises from the Doğan Group alone controlling nearly half of the media,” said Şahin Alpay, a professor of Turkish politics at Bahçeşehir University and a columnist for the Zaman and Today's Zaman dailies.

 Arguing on the same line, Baydar said many columnists of Doğan outlets have jumped to conclusions and declared that media freedom is in danger.

 “One [colleague from the Doğan Group] said, ‘Regarding the level of dishonest journalism we did over the years, I cannot really feel sorry for what happened.' When urged to write about it, they say they are afraid of losing their jobs.”

 The now-defunct Nokta weekly's editor-in-chief, Alper Görmüş, said there is a broad-based segment in Turkey that sees some parts of society and its representatives as the “enemy” and campaigns in opposition with the goal of “eliminating the enemy.”

 “The Doğan Group, with its main body, so far has been working as the media arm of that segment. I believe that even if it is ‘ferocious,' every type of opposition is legitimate unless it involves violence,” he said. But he added that in the specific case involving the Doğan Group, “opposition” sometimes goes as far as “opposing democratic values.”

 “So the propaganda that ‘the media group is paying the price for defending democratic values against a repressive government' is so naive,” said Görmüş, who has been monitoring the Turkish media for years.

 Baydar said it is wiser to wait as this case cannot be simply explained with a "press freedom in danger" argument.

“Therefore, I would urge third parties, including the European Commission, to act cautiously, taking the facts into account, and not to reach premature conclusions. If we are to fight corruption and financial crimes as our profession requires, we should also include the media sector,” he said, referring to reactions from Europe as the Hürriyet daily reported on Friday on its front page that the “European Union warns” Turkey that the fine imposed on the Doğan media group could affect the forthcoming progress report on Turkey's EU entry bid. The story stated that a spokesman for the European Commission said, "When the sanction is of such magnitude that it threatens the very existence of an entire press group, like in this case, then freedom of the press is at stake."

Other side of coin: lessons for gov’t

Alpay emphasized that as with all things, there are at least two sides of the coin with regards to the tax evasion charges against the Doğan media group.

 “On the one side, the charges raise the suspicion that the government is aiming to punish the group for opposing it by all available means. That the government is avoiding the establishment of an independent tax authority as suggested by the IMF [International Monetary Fund] augments such suspicions.”

 So, he said, in order for the media in Turkey not to be manipulated by media barons and to fulfill its democratic functions, it is absolutely necessary to pass legislation to limit ownership concentration in the media and to ban media barons from participating in public tenders.

 “Instead of passing such legislation, the AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)] government is utilizing carrot -- favors -- and stick -- punishment -- tactics toward the media in order to control it,” he added.

 According to Görmüş, the Finance Ministry should immediately respond to the Doğan Group's argument that “a tax exception that is put in practice for everyone was denied to us.”

 Additionally, Baydar said the consequences of huge and disputable fines will lead to a climate of fear and more self-censorship in the sector. “Critical and unbiased reporting of the powerful actors will be much more difficult. The Turkish media risks being in the same category as the Russian or Italian [media]. People will risk becoming unemployed,” he said, adding that “Prime Minister Erdoğan seems to follow the same pattern as his predecessors, who over the decades wanted to create a 'government-dependent' media. So far, Erdoğan has shown no interest in dealing with the heart of the matter.”

 Baydar's solution is to create a diverse, free, independent and reliable media sector. The government should ban media owners from entering public tenders in the areas other than the media itself; ban or severely restrict cross-ownership; increase the share limits of foreign actors in media outlets; pass the new Trade Unions' Law immediately; and establish an independent tax inspection system to prevent abuses.