Abstract:

The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were issued by the French, in French. The activities of some of these newspapers issued in Istanbul and Izmir have been contrary to the interests of the Empire, some have caused the crisis with foreign representations. However, the Ottoman rulers saw the influence of the press on society and politics through the publications of these newspapers and established their practices in journalism on this understanding. In fact, the beginning of the press history was accepted by the Calendar-i Vekayi and the Ottoman Government; it tried to create a public for its own benefit within and in Europe. In Ottoman, the press began with an official newspaper, but the opposition to the country’s progress was also carried out through the newspapers; the opposition identities of the first journalists determined the content of the newspaper. Giving useful information is one of the objectives of the publishers from the beginning. Therefore, speaking in a language that the people will understand, is an insistency on all the newspapers. The first newspapers of Ottoman also reflect the style of the time. For example, the praise of the padişaha, which is a characteristic characteristic of the period, appeared in the newspapers, but the newspaper’s opposition attitude was sharper and this speech was weakened. In this article, Calvim-i Vekayi, Ceride-i Havadis, Translator-i Ahval and Ibret newspaper’s lectures were evaluated; first the contents of the lectures were given; then these texts were studied under the titles “Mukaddime Writers”, “Evaluation of the contents”, “Language and Slogans”. As a result of the review, all the characteristics of the Ottoman press in the initial phase were also seen in the newspapers and the conclusion was achieved that the journalists were aware of what they went for and what they would do.

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