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News Publishing as a Reflection of Public Opinion: The Idea of News during the Ottoman Financial Crises

This chapter examines the financial crises of the Ottoman Empire and how through press representations, reformers advocated for a ‘public’ that would unify fragmented and multiple actors to improve Ottoman society. Then in its early stages of development, the Ottoman press was used to establish a new political and social order. The discussion analyses how dissident newspapers, Tasvir-i Efkar, İbret, Hadika and İstikbal, all published in Istanbul, significantly influenced the establishment of a politically and economically engaged public. In conceptualising newspaper representations of the economic crises as an outcome of conflicting interests, it resituates the tension existing not only between state and society but also among other interests. The interpretations of the financial crises competed, coexisted and were utilised to promote particular interests and reveal how the press provided an arena of contestation for diverse groups and individuals.