Survey: Zaman, Sözcü, Cumhuriyet most biased dailies

The recent German Marshall Fund survey indicated that the most biased newspapers in Turkey are Zaman and Sözcü followed by Cumhuriyet with almost the same percentage.

According to the survey, 72.8 percent of those interviewed said Zaman is the most biased newspaper, followed by Sözcü with 66.6 percent and Cumhuriyet with 65.3 percent. The survey, which was conducted by Infakto RW through face-to-face interviews with 1,024 people over 18 cities across Turkey, also found that participants with different political beliefs still ranked Turkish daily Zaman to be the most biased newspaper. Among those with different political beliefs, they indicated Sözcü and Cumhuriyet were the most biased. Some of the most interesting results of the survey include the answers of the supporters of Turkey's major political parties in Parliament, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Republican People's Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) reflected the general results, even for newspapers that support certain political parties.

For instance, even though Sözcü and Cumhuriyet are known with their close relations with the CHP, they were still seen as the most biased newspapers by the supporters of those main opposition party supporters, according to the survey results. While CHP supporters perceived Gülen Movement-affiliated Zaman daily as the most biased newspaper with 76.9 percent, Sözcü followed with 70.1 percent. Similarly, Zaman is again the most biased newspaper among participants who support the AK Party with 73.6 percent followed by Sözcü with 69.5 percent. Additionally, Zaman garnered the same results for other opposition parties with 77.2 percent of MHP supporters and 56.7 percent of HDP supporters.