TRT World is a Turkish
public broadcaster which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day and is operated by the
TRT and based in the
Ulus quarter of Ankara. It provides worldwide news and current affairs focusing on
Turkey, Europe, Africa, and Western and Southern Asia.[1] In addition to its headquarters based in Ankara, TRT World has broadcasting centres and studios in
Washington, D.C. and
London. It is a member of the
Association for International Broadcasting.
The network has received criticism for failing to meet accepted
journalism ethics and standards for independence and objectivity, with some commentators especially in the West calling it a mouthpiece or propaganda arm of the
Erdoğan administration.[2][3][4][5] TRT World claims that it is financially and editorially independent from the administration, and that its news gathering and reporting activities are just like those of other publicly funded broadcasters around the world, with a mission to show a non-Turkish audience events from Turkey's viewpoint.[6][7][4] However, according to
Reporters Without Borders, Turkey in 2023 ranked 165th out of 180 countries in
press freedom.[8]
Programmes
In addition to those listed below, TRT World runs various once-off documentaries. Current programmes on the channel are:
Africa Matters: Africa Matters, hosted by Adesewa Josh, is TRT World's flagship Africa programme that brings stories from the African continent.
Across The Balkans: Weekly programme hosted by Nafisa Latic, prepared by Zeynep Gizem Ozdemir, featuring interviews with guests from Balkan Region regarding issues related to the region.
Beyond Borders: Monthly documentary show presented by David Foster showcasing real people at the heart of the stories shaping our world.
Beyond the game: Daily sports show.
Money Talks: Daily finance programme hosted by Auskar Surbakti or Ludovica Brignola with in-depth reports and analysis,
Roundtable: Hosted by Enda Brady. Roundtable is a discussion programme where guests debate the news from London.
The Newsmakers: Hosted by Andrea Sanke. The channel's flagship current affairs programme, featuring reports and interviews.
Newsfeed: Daily show hosted by Natasha Hussain, unpacking what stories are big on social media and why they matter.
Compass: Monthly documentary series filmed globally. Compass is an exploration of issues through art, culture and creativity.
Inside America with Ghida Fakhry: Weekly in-depth interviews with American opinion and policy-makers exploring the issues shaping US politics, presented by
Ghida Fakhry.[10]
Strait Talk: Brings audience the much-needed context to stories that are changing the world. It features in depth analyses of global events that are redefining our age. This show is hosted by Ayse Suberker.
In March 2020, the
United States Justice Department required TRT World's Washington operation to register as an agent of the Government of Turkey, engaged in political activities, under the anti-propaganda
Foreign Agents Registration Act. TRT World's argument that it is independent was rejected by US officials who found and claim that the
Turkish government "exercises direction and control of TRT by regulation and oversight, and by controlling its leadership, budget, and content."[7] Apart from some Russian and Chinese networks, other state-funded media including the Qatari-backed
Al Jazeera, British-backed
BBC News, French-backed
France 24 and German-backed
Deutsche Welle had not been determined to be foreign-government agents.[13]
In a 2019
op-ed in The Washington Post,
MEMRI's executive director
Steven Stalinsky surmised TRT World as "a propaganda arm of Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime", similar to the Russian
RT network. He notes that the channel offered only enthusiastically promotional coverage of the Turkish military's
Operation Peace Spring in Syria, while according to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, the government banned critical news coverage domestically. Stalinsky urges human rights activists, journalists, and others not to appear on and legitimise the network's shows, just as they would not appear on RT.[3]
Following the
2016 Turkish coup attempt, some journalists who had recently joined the company
resigned.[14][15] One of those who resigned said: "I no longer hold out any hope that this channel will become what I wanted it to become (...) After the coup, it became very apparent that the channel had no intention of actually covering it properly, in a professional, international broadcast standard."[citation needed] The managing editor at the time said that he "never received a phone call from
Ankara trying to frame the broadcast or give them talking points."[16]
More recently as of March 2020 with the
Evros border crisis, TRT World and other Turkish media have in a way, accelerated on producing
fake news as alleged by the Greek government, as was also mentioned by Prime Minister of Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a
CNN interview twice,[17] stating that the reports all come from Turkish media and other unknown sources aiming to discredit the
Hellenic Coast Guard and
Hellenic Armed Forces efforts with propaganda videos. TRT World claimed that Greece sent back refugee vessels to Turkish waters, which was denied by Greece.[18] Conversely, there have been reports by other sources of Greek coastal authorities forcing the refugee vessels back to Turkish side, in a military strategy dubbed "push back".[19]