Only 60 percent of the journalists in Turkey have a university degree, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), Euronews’ Turkish edition reported.
As May 3 is World Press Freedom Day, the problems of journalists and issues related to freedom of the press in Turkey and adherence to journalistic standards are extensively debated.
According to TurkStat’s 2018 data, 8.9 percent of journalists in Turkey have a two-year vocational degree, while 25.3 percent are high school graduates and 6.1 percent have an education below the high school level.
These figures apply to the 40,344 persons who actively work as journalists in newspapers and magazines, while 6,153 who work in the delivery and printing of newspapers are excluded. Journalists working for TV and radio stations are also excluded from the TurkStat data.
Among the 40 percent who have university degrees, 15.8 percent also have a master’s or Ph.D., according to the data.
In the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, dozens of prominent journalists were jailed as part of a post-coup purge, while hundreds had to flee the country to avoid government persecution due to their critical views.