Gazete Duvar

What did it do?

Gazete Duvar was a Turkish online newspaper that began publishing in August 2016. It ran news and columns across a wide range of subjects, from current affairs and the economy to culture and sport. In 2019 it also began publishing in English as Duvar English, and it was the first newsroom for many young journalists.

Why did it shut down?

According to the farewell piece by editor-in-chief Barış Avşar, the direct cause of the closure was changes to Google's algorithm from the previous year onwards. As Avşar told Medyascope, Google advertising revenue had become one of the most important items in the paper's budget, and the impact of the algorithm change was felt in the autumn of 2024. The piece also cited rising costs, an inflationary economy and the cost of living as factors that hastened the decision. Because Gazete Duvar's revenue depended on search traffic, a change in a platform's rules turned into an existential threat. The paper ceased publication on 12 March 2025.

The story

Gazete Duvar began publishing in August 2016, immediately after the coup attempt of 15 July. Its owner was Vedat Zencir, one of Turkey's first conscientious objectors. The paper soon became an independent online publication covering a broad agenda, from the dismissal from their universities of the Academics for Peace to elections, and from the Kurdish question to foreign policy. In 2019 it began publishing in English as Duvar English, under Cansu Çamlıbel.

Over nine years the paper also served as a school where many young reporters took their first steps in the profession. Its staff signed a collective agreement with the Journalists' Union of Turkey, and its reporters won various journalism awards. At the same time, throughout its life it also had to contend with access bans and their legal costs.

The end, however, came from an unexpected quarter. On 12 March 2025 the farewell piece written by editor-in-chief Barış Avşar said plainly that new practices in Google's algorithm lay behind the decision to close. According to Avşar, from the previous year onwards these changes had in effect sabotaged online media, making it harder for news sites to reach readers. A few months earlier, in an article discussing the same issue, the paper had asked whether we would still be able to get our news from the internet; according to the farewell piece, for Gazete Duvar the answer turned out to be no.

As NTV reported, the revenue losses caused by the algorithm changes, together with rising costs, stood out as the main reasons in the statements. An inflationary economy and the cost of living added to the burden on a publication already struggling to stay afloat on shrinking revenue.

Gazete Duvar's story shows how invisible a dependency digital publishing is built on. However hard the team producing the content worked, the key to the road to readers was in another company's hands. When that key changed, a publication with nine years behind it said goodbye to its readers in a single article.

Lessons for founders

• If most of your traffic comes from a single platform, that platform's algorithm is your business model.
• Ad-funded digital publishing is fragile without a direct relationship with readers (subscriptions, newsletters, donations).
• In a period of high inflation, track the gap between costs and revenue monthly, not annually.

Sources

1. A farewell statement! Why did Gazete Duvar close, and who owns it? (NTV, 2025-03-12)
2. Time to say goodbye for Gazete Duvar... (Gazete Duvar, 2025-03-12)
3. Gazete Duvar owner Vedat Zencir and editor-in-chief Barış Avşar: new practices in Google's algorithm have ended our publishing life (T24, 2025-03-12)
4. Gazete Duvar (Vikipedi)
5. Journalists and experts explain: why are independent media outlets closing? (Medyascope, 2025-07-13)

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