An Ethics of Suppression? How Professional Values Silence Critical Journalism in Turkey

This article examines how professional ethics can paradoxically suppress critical journalism under authoritarian conditions. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews conducted in Turkish newsrooms, we show how journalists navigate ethical commitments amid state control. Using Weber’s “ethic of responsibility” and “ethic of conviction,” we find that editors routinely suppress reporting to protect their newsrooms and carve out a reduced space for critical coverage, while some reporters prioritize truth-telling but disclaim responsibility for publication outcomes. These orientations reinforce a division of labor that perpetuates suppression, showing that ethics can sometimes be used to legitimize restraint rather than resist authoritarianism.