Rethinking Activist Journalism when Freedom of Press is Under Threat

Today, self-censorship and government pressure dominate the media, preventing fair and balanced coverage, and special interests are driving investment in Turkey?s notvery-profitable media sector. During and after Gezi protests, social media became very crucial for both the journalists and the audience in Turkey. While mainstream media outlets ignored the stories of police attacks against the peaceful protests due to their coorporate purposes, the breaking news was disseminated by journalists (some of them anonymously) throughsocial media accounts. It is observed that they adopted some journalistic standards to their Twitter posts and played an important role to the news sharing during the events. As a result, the research showed that the question of how journalism can be compatible with activism is not clear even if they took a side like activists. Activist journalism is seen as the outcome of increased pressure on media and unadopted ethical codes.