Internet
Turkey Poised to Become Next Global News Technology Hub
Terrorism, conflict and a constitutional crisis may have taken Turkey off the map for many travellers this summer, but Istanbul -based media tech startups are beating the odds and channelling the country's relentless flow of news to create what analysts believe may be the Middle East's latest tech bubble.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160615/809611 )
One of Turkey's latest startup success stories TVHI Media Lab this week announced the launch of its NewsKit Horizon™ system for photojournalists and video news teams. The latest offering joins their wider TVHI NewsKit™ journalism platform that has seen growing adoption by newsrooms covering breaking incidents since 2015.
TVHI founder Alp Toker explains, "Good reporting, fact checking and a free press are the cornerstones of democracy. NewsKit has proven over the last year that technology isn't the threat to journalism some make it out to be - newsrooms willing to embrace social media and mobile video through our platform are achieving higher engagement rates than ever."
"We've found a way to help media organisations master social media networks Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, letting them become more resilient in a media industry faced with unique challenges and opportunities."
Toker sees new possibilities that go beyond traditional publishing: "Right now, people are coming to us from other industries saying they share the same needs - we have inquiries from the public sector, NGOs, emergency services, even weddings and a rock band - and we're working to meet those demands. That said, our driving goal is to support free and independent media outlets."
Startup commentator Alev Erkan believes that products like TVHI NewsKit are succeeding where others have failed because of a newfound willingness to invest in research and development:
"We're seeing a degree of sophistication with offerings like TVHI's NewsKit end-to-end journalism SaaS that was rare in Turkey up until recently. What we're looking at here is a world-class team building new hardware as well as software as part of their IP portfolio; they're testing new ideas, talking and engaging with subscribers - news agencies and reporters - to deliver innovative platforms that are in demand because they solve real problems."
TVHI, a Turkish startup and social enterprise founded in September 2014 and Headquartered in Taksim, Istanbul , also participates in activities supporting writers' freedom of expression, equality and human rights.
https://newskit.org
info@newskit.org