PUBLICATION/BROADCAST TYPES IN LOCAL MEDIA

The results obtained by the survey reveal that local media outlets are mostly performing in the scope of print and digital media. “Local newspapers” (1542 units) constitute the majority of the outlets that carry on their activities within the print media. On the other hand, "local magazines" (118) which is the other main type of publication in the print media category, is seen to be less in number compared to local newspapers.

Besides the print media, the research data shows that most of the local media outlets publish their content as "digital news platforms" (1,197).

On the other hand, the number of outlets broadcasting on a local scale through visual and audio channels is quite limited compared to print and digital media. Among the outlets identified in the research, there are only a few television(136) and radio stations (263) broadcasting at the local level.

In line with these results, while the print and digital media institutions stand out in the distribution of local media outlets according to publication/broadcast types, it is seen that the number of local media outlets working via visual and audio channels stays limited.

Local Newspapers

Local newspapers, which constitute 47.6% of the all outlets identified in the search, stand out as the most common publication type in the local media. The majority of the 1542 local newspapers identified in the research are located in the Marmara (376 outlets), Mediterranean (328 outlets) and Black Sea (234 outlets) regions. Southeastern Anatolia (128 outlets) and Eastern Anatolia (101 outlets) stand out as the regions hosting the least number of local newspapers. According to the results, the cities with the highest number of local newspapers are Istanbul (113 outlets), Mersin (82 outlets) and Adana (78 outlets).

Local Magazines

Compared to other media types, local magazines (118 outlets) constitute the type of media which the least number of local outlets reached during the research. According to the research results, local magazines mostly located in Marmara (33 outlets), Aegean (29 outlets) and Mediterranean (24 outlets). The city where the highest number of local magazines are published is Istanbul (14 outlets), while the other cities with the highest number of local magazines are Antalya (8 outlets) and Denizli (8 outlets). The outstanding data of the research show that the number of local magazines varies between 2 and 7 outlets in most cities, while in many cities no local magazines can be identified.

Local Televisions

Within the scope of the research, 136 local television stations broadcasting on a local scale were identified. The results show local televisions mostly located in Central Anatolia (31 outlets), Mediterranean (24 outlets) and Aegean (23 outlets), while the region with the lowest number of local televisions is Eastern Anatolia (11 outlets). In the distribution among cities, Kayseri (9 outlets) stands out as the province hosting the highest number of local television stations. Among the other cities examined in the research, the average number of local television stations in 27 cities generally varies between 2 and 7 outlets, while there is at least one local television station detected in 22 of the cities. In the remaining 31 cities, it is seen that there are no local television stations.

Local Radios

The research results reveal that local radios (263 outlets) have the highest number of stations in the scope of audio-visual media types. These local radio stations are mostly concentrated in the Aegean (56 outlets), Mediterranean (53 outlets) and Marmara (52 outlets) regions, while the least number of local radio stations are located in Southeast Anatolia (14 outlets). According to the results, the cities hosting the highest number of local radios are  Bursa (20 outlets) and Adana (16 outlets). When the distribution of local radios among cities is examined, the average number of stations varies between 2 and 10 outlets in 39 of the cities. On the other hand, there is only one local radio station in 19 of the cities, while there is no radio station broadcasting on a local scale in 17 of the cities.

4.2.5. Local Digital News Platforms

Considering the general distribution of local media outlets depending on media type, digital news platforms stand out as the second type of media with the highest number of outlets after local newspapers. According to the research data, 1197 of the 3240 local outlets detected during the research perform as digital news platforms. While these digital news platforms are mainly concentrated in the Marmara region (29%), the remaining number of outlets are proportionally distributed at the Black Sea (15%),the Mediterranean (13.7%), and Aegean (13.4%) regions. Eastern Anatolia (9.5%) and Southeastern Anatolia (6.6%) are the regions hosting the fewest digital news platforms. According to the research results, the cities hosting the highest number of local digital news platforms are Istanbul (97 outlets), Kocaeli (71 outlets) and Bursa (58 outlets).

Local Media Outlets with Multiple Types of Media Mediums 

The prominent findings reveal that there are local media outlets publish/broadcast through multiple media mediums. The majority of these outlets are local outlets that publish both as a printed local newspaper and as a digital news platform. According to the data, many local newspapers (62 outlets in total) are also published through a digital news platform within the same institutional body, in addition to their printed publications. Similarly, it is seen that some local magazines (9 outlets in total) are also published through digital news platforms. Among the audiovisual media types, there are some local outlets (4 outlets in total) broadcasting as both television and radio under the same institutional body.