As Turkey grapples with a serious economic downturn, some in the Turkish media display a novel propensity to present negative economic news in a positive light. The coverage they offer is often the opposite of what the economic data signal. Indicators pointing to recession are portrayed as positive developments, and negative data such as high inflation are transformed into good news. Leading this trend of glossing over ill-auguring figures are media outlets close to the government.

One of the most striking examples pertains to inflation. In 2018, consumer prices in Turkey shot up 20.3%, atop an increase of 11.92% in 2017. Last year’s inflation was the highest since 2002, when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power. In 2003, the AKP’s first full year in power, consumer inflation hit 18.4% and never exceeded 20% in the ensuing years.

Many pro-government media outlets, however, have heralded “good news” to the public, linking the inflation rate to the pay hikes that workers, public servants and pensioners would receive, rather than delving into the mounting cost of living.

Moreover, the pay raises at the end of the year could hardly qualify as “good news,” given the even higher inflation in some basic subcategories and products. In the food and non-alcoholic beverages rubric, which is of direct concern to low-income groups, inflation reached 25.11%. Prices rose 184% for onions, 91% for tomato paste, 75% for potatoes, 61% for leeks, 57% for long green peppers, 43% for eggplants and margarine and 36% for cucumbers, to mention a few.