The Press Advertisement Institution (; BIK), also known as the Press Advertisement Agency, is a public legal entity of the

government of Turkey The Government of Turkey () is the Central government, national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential system, presidential representative democracy and a Constitution of Turkey, constitutional republic wit ...

responsible for distribution of government ads to the Turkish newspapers, including private and state-owned. Established in 1961 under the Law No. 195, it is affiliated with the Directorate of Communications and works under the 36 members elected from the

Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the Unicameralism, unicameral Turkey, Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by ...

. Members are divided into three groups such as "Press", "Government" and "Impartial".

Composition

Besides being reviewed by 42 members from the Grand Assembly, the organisation consists of the auditors and the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

, which represents it in an equal manner, including its head office and all branches across the country. It is headed by a

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and is headquartered in three different locations

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

and

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Background

BIK also serves as the largest archive of digital newspapers and has recorded the maximum number of digital newspapers in the country. It also impose sanctions on

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s and news websites from displaying official advertisements under the press ethics principles, and

journalism ethics and standards Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional " code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...

. If any newspaper running in the country violates the law of Turkey face legal action by cutting down its ads. The organization also provides newspapers with assistance in obtaining interest-free loans. Minority communities such as Greek, Armenian and Jewish are also given financial assistance for running newspapers under the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (, ) is a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–1923 and signed in the Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially resolved the conflict that had initially ...

Selection

BIK held elections for the selection of its members. Newspapers owners who comply with the Press Advertisement Institution legislation and the Article 3 of the Press Advertisement Institution Regulation are also entitled to participate in the election.

Revenue

BIK has raised ₺53.5 million revenue in 2002 which increased to ₺416 million in 2020. It runs various types of ads in different categories such as real estate, vehicles, personnel recruitment, academic staff and training announcements,

tender notification A tender notification is the publication and circulation of procurement opportunities by the procuring entity in various media like: Newspapers, purchasers's own website and government tender bulletin etc. The main objective of wider publicity is ...

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

law cases, and notifications and announcements among other. Official Announcement Amounts (20002020)

Criticism

BIK is accused of giving more preference to pro-government newspapers than being a neutral entity. Reports suggest that it gives 78% of the government ads to pro-government newspapers and has arguably reduced 97% of ads to those newspapers who oppose the government policies. Government supporters has utilised ₺141 million 932 932 thousand

Turkish lira The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...

of the

public fund Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or ...

s while nine newspapers including ''

Sözcü ''Sözcü'' (English: ''Spokesperson'') is a popular Turkish daily newspaper. ''Sözcü'' was first published on 27 June 2007 by Burak Akbay and is distributed nationwide. As of June 2018, it was one of the top-selling newspapers in Turkey, with ...

'', ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

'', ''

BirGün ''BirGün'' (''One Day'') is an Istanbul-based Turkish left-wing daily. The paper was founded in 2004 by a group of Turkish intellectuals. The most important point of the newspaper is that it is not owned by any parent company or conglomerate. ...

'', ''

Evrensel ''Evrensel'' () is a Turkish daily newspaper. History and profile ''Evrensel'' was founded on 7 June 1995. The issues captured and written are from a socialist perspective. The paper is different from other Turkish newspapers in that it present ...

'', and ''Korkusuz'' experienced 97 percent ad penalties by the government. The

European Centre for Press and Media Freedom The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) is a non-profit organisation that promotes, protects and defends the right to a free media and freedom of expression throughout Europe. It was founded in 2015 as a watchdog of the European ...

indicated that the government of Turkey banned independent media in the country from displaying official advertisements on their newspapers. ''Evrensel'' has experienced indefinite sanctions for its role in critical reportage. It was banned in September 2019 until 28 March 2020. However, BIK assured lifting of ban after it held a meeting with the

International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia Universit ...

(IPI), Journalists Syndicate of Turkey (TGS),

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

(CPJ), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and the

European Federation of Journalists The European Federation of Journalists is the European regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists. It describes itself as the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, and says it represents about 320,000 journalists ...

(EFJ).

External links

*
Advertisement announcements website

References

{{reflist Regulatory and supervisory agencies of Turkey 1961 establishments in Turkey Advertising agencies