The party promoted by journalists through social media posts

     After I wrote about monitoring journalists who post tweets for money, a colleague drew my attention to the posts and programs regarding Teoman Mutlu, the Chairman of the Yerli ve Milli Parti (Domestic and National Party).

    I took a look. This party, founded in 2023, has no visible impact on the political arena, and Chairman Teoman Mutlu is not a recognized figure among voters. Teoman Mutlu also has no political background. He is a businessman with companies operating in the fields of chemistry, cleaning, and petroleum products in the USA and Turkey. In fact, in 2024, he was sentenced to 7 years and 7 months in prison in a case involving fictitious perfume exports heard at the Bakırköy 1st High Criminal Court.

     Nevertheless, interestingly, news about Teoman Mutlu in digital media and posts on social media have never been lacking. He appeared on Murat Şahin's programs on Akit TV and Tahir Sarıkaya's on Beyaz TV; his statements have been reported here and there. Ahmet Hakan hosted him twice in his newspaper column. Some journalists have also written praises on social media and shared what Teoman Mutlu wrote.

      Following the recent operations, most of the journalists deleted their posts. I could only find two posts by Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı. In his post dated April 12, 2025, Kütahyalı took Teoman Mutlu's words regarding a "general amnesty" and shared them by writing, "Well done Teoman Mutlu. As ROK, I also call on all our citizens who want a general amnesty to support the Yerli ve Milli Parti." In his post on June 1, 2025, Kütahyalı claimed that "a brand new politician, Teoman Mutlu, has brought his vote share to the 2 percent level," and said, "Don't be surprised if Teoman Mutlu's Yerli ve Milli Parti becomes strong enough to challenge even the İyi Parti at this rate."

     Kütahyalı wrote this, but of course, Teoman Mutlu's party has no such vote share. It didn't have it last year, and it doesn't this year. Let alone 1 or 2 percent, it doesn't even appear in polls at all. Even the number of followers on X is only 9,538...

     However, somehow, in the "Political party vote preferences" poll by ORC Research dated July 17-19, 2026, which Teoman Mutlu shared on X, the YMP appears to have 1.4 percent of the vote. This is a strange survey! In the survey ORC conducted after this one, on July 27-29, 2026, the YMP is nowhere to be found. The YMP was also absent in the survey conducted a month earlier, on June 17-19, 2026. It is as if ORC's July 17-19 survey was specifically conducted to make Teoman Mutlu happy!

         Ultimately, thanks to this ORC survey and the posts of journalists like Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, this party has been portrayed as having a power it does not actually possess. Why would a journalist write that a party, whose insignificance in the polls is clearly evident, is on the rise and has reached 2 percent of the vote? Could these posts be paid for?

  Finally, an automotive writer who criticizes brands 

   Automotive journalism in Turkey is generally based on press releases, meetings, trips, and promotions of automotive companies. More or less the same topics, the same statements, the same interviews.

    Different research is rarely encountered, and critical perspectives are almost non-existent. Automotive pages, YouTube videos, and TV programs are spaces where new brands are unveiled and cars are introduced with identical praise...

    The automotive pages published on Mondays in newspapers are also identical. Most recently, Milliyet came out with the headline "There is more potential in leasing," Türkiye with "Car rental sector preparing for a new era," and Yeni Şafak with "New generation is not buying, they are renting." All three were based on the statement by Özarslan Tangün, President of the All Car Rental and Mobility Association.

    Another week, the same brand and model of vehicle were promoted under headlines like "Doping for the domestic ... SUV" (Yeni Şafak), "... arrived very ambitiously" (Türkiye), "Historic record in SUV" (Sabah), "Domestic ... hits the road with SCT exemption" (CNN Türk). Moreover, the vehicle they called domestic was a French brand; it was produced in Turkey, but the domestic production rate was around 40 percent.

     One week, there was news in Sabah, Türkiye, and Yeni Şafak about an automobile brand being produced in Bursa. The week before that, Cumhuriyet, Sabah, Türkiye, Milli Gazete, and Yeni Şafak had put the same brand on the front page with headlines like "Back on Turkish roads after 13 years," "Caught up with electrics in fuel consumption," and "Gas-powered car versus electric car."

    What is written is identical because they always rely on company press releases and statements, or they go on trips with vehicles provided by the companies to film programs. Companies also cover the travel expenses for domestic or international promotional events and fairs; collaborations are formed.

     Ultimately, most automotive journalists function as representatives who look out for the interests of companies in the media, not the benefit of society and consumers. In fact, the Advertising Board recently noticed what automotive writers did not, and fined a Japanese automobile company 863 million liras; the news in the media did not even mention that the company was Nissan, it was hidden.

     Of course, there are writers who go beyond this promotional line, look out for consumer interests, and take a critical approach. One of them is Hürriyet's automotive writer Taylan Özgür Dil. Last week, with his report "It burned again: Recall this vehicle immediately," he brought to the agenda the problems in the ET5 model of the Chinese brand Skywell, which has sold more than 3 thousand units in Turkey.

   We must congratulate Taylan Özgür Dil for this journalism. I hope this attitude shown towards the Chinese company will apply to all models of all countries; I hope automotive writers will express the negative aspects of those vehicles without hesitation...

    What is said and what is done must match 

   Sinan Burhan, President of the Turkey Press Federation, asked at an award ceremony, "Have other journalist associations or media NGOs ever given an award to Kanal 7 or Sabah newspaper?" He gave the answer himself again:

   "No. They don't. They are impartial, we are partisan. Sorry, but no one accepts these discourses anymore. Let us say this to those who ask, 'What is the difference between you?' We gave awards to all media members who do this profession properly. We didn't just look at whether they were close to us."

   Unfortunately, Sinan Burhan's words do not reflect the truth. Let me give an example; Sabah was among those who received the "Turkey Journalism Achievement Award" given by the Turkish Journalists Association this year. And it was awarded in two categories: economic news and interior page layout. Pro-government Hürriyet, Milliyet, TRT, and İHA also received awards at the ceremony held in March.

    It is also not true that Sinan Burhan does not discriminate when giving awards. All of the recipients of the "Anadolu Media Awards," which they gave for the 11th time this year, were pro-government journalists and media organizations. There was not a single opposition journalist or media organization among those they awarded! They had not given awards to any opposition journalists in previous years either.

      Journalism is the profession of telling the truth. What a person at the head of a professional organization says and what they do must match...

   Change at RTÜK 

  Turkuvaz Media, which had remained silent while RTÜK rained fines on opposition channels until today, raised the flag against RTÜK when it fined ATV for the first time in a long time.

    In Sabah, an article titled "RTÜK, which cannot make foreigners listen, rains fines on domestic media" was published, and news titled "Inequality to national media" and "National reaction to RTÜK" were published in Takvim. In the "Special File" on ATV, it was argued that RTÜK "fined domestic media" instead of auditing digital platforms. However, these reports never mentioned the fines given to other channels.

    Yet, on June 11, the day RTÜK fined ATV 8 million liras for the "Esra Erol'da" program, it had also decided to fine Now TV, Sözcü TV, Halk TV, Kafa Radyo, Best FM, Kanal D, Show TV, and Star TV.

     The fact that Show TV, Star TV, and Kanal D were also fined on the same day, in addition to ATV, is a practice that has not been seen at RTÜK for a long time. It is a rare situation for RTÜK members to reach a consensus and fine these four pro-government channels, and unanimously at that.

    While there was no sound from the TMSF, which is the owner of Show TV, the Doğuş Group, owner of Star TV, and the Demirören Group, owner of Kanal D, against the RTÜK fines, the Turkuvaz Group raising its voice could be an indicator of change.

    Prof. Dr. Selman Öğüt's outburst, "Know your place Turkuvaz Media. We stand with our state. RTÜK has done what is necessary," also reflected the support for these decisions of RTÜK within the ranks of the government. However, the fact that RTÜK fined digital platforms HBO Max, Prime Video, Netflix, and Disney+ following these developments showed the impact of Turkuvaz's campaign.

    Could RTÜK have given up on making concessions to pro-government television channels? We need to watch.

   Correction from Oğuz Demir

    I criticized last week that Assoc. Prof. Dr. Oğuz Demir was only introduced as an "economist" on screens. I reminded that he is also a member of the Şişli Municipal Council and Chairman of the IMM Planning and Budget Commission, and I expressed that his political identity should also be stated in TV programs.

   Oğuz Demir called me after the article was published. First of all, he corrected a mistake; he stated that he has not been in the Municipal Council for two terms, but was newly elected this term. He stated that his political identity is not a secret, that he reminds the presenters of this in the programs he attends, but that he leaves the choice of how he will be introduced on screen to them.

     In a single sentence:

• With the detention of Burhan Can Terzi following Galatasaray's denial of his report regarding the transfer of footballer Jamal Musiala, a football writer has been subjected to an investigation due to a transfer report for the first time.

• In the news about the operation against the Süleymancılar, Sabah and Yeni Şafak wrote "Süleymancılar group" instead of "religious community" or "cult"; Türkiye and Yeni Akit preferred to say "Alican Kuriş criminal organization."

• While all newspapers made the acceptance of the law regarding the liquidation of the PKK in the TBMM a headline, only Sabah and Yeni Şafak published it as a small news item on the front page.

• The newspaper Türkiye published the promotional text titled "Unity and common prosperity under the guarantee of law in China" without adding a warning that "This is an advertisement" or "This is a sponsored text."

• In Akşam's report "Israel is buying the Island," the words of Greek Cypriot MP Fidias Panayiotou were distorted in quotation marks as if he had said "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" instead of "Cyprus."

• Haber Global published the axe fight between two groups in Esenler with template language that was sexist and did not explain the reason for the fight, saying "The argument over a girl issue grew."

• While Halk TV reporter Sibel Mazrek was explaining the closed group meeting held by the YP for the law regarding the dissolution of the PKK, the footage of a deputy entering the hall was repeated 13 times on the side.

• The headline on Sözcü web, "F. Bahçe eliminated from Champions League due to referee's scandalous mistake," was misleading; the referee, who ended the match early, later corrected the mistake and completed the duration.

• The reports by Halk TV, Elips Haber, Sözcü, and Odatv, "Salah shock for Trabzonspor: His salary has been seized," were one-sided and unresearched news; as a matter of fact, it was later announced that it was not true.

• The Ensonhaber site, which does not feel the need to specify gender when male drivers fight, made the news "Female drivers attacked each other in a road rage incident in İzmir."

• Akşam and Hürriyet published the promotion of the AKP-run Konya Metropolitan Municipality, and Yeni Şafak published the promotion of the AKP-run Bursa Metropolitan Municipality as if it were news without adding an advertisement warning.

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