Content is the king: Hürriyet’s Sabancı

BURSA - Hurriyet Daily News

Hürriyet chairwoman Vuslat Doğan Sabancı (C) speaks during a summit in Bursa. DHA photo

The leading element in tomorrow’s online media will be content, said Vuslat Doğan Sabancı, chairwoman of Hürriyet newspaper, at the 1st Uludağ Economy Summit in the northwestern province of Bursa over the weekend. 

“Publishing content online is relatively easy and open to everyone, but the cost of maintaining permanence is high,” Sabancı said during a panel session on March 17. A good brand, unique content and the technology pave the way for successful media, Sabancı said. “The future of media lies on the Internet; however, the road to that future is full of traps, because remaining permanent in online media is very difficult.” 

Doğan Holding, the parent company of Hürriyet, is active in internet media across nine countries in the region. Emphasizing the importance of having a successful brand and unique idea, as well the ability to promote the content in order to have a long-lasting place in the international media arena, Sabancı said the walls between media such as radio, newspapers, magazines and TV have vanished in recent years. “Today, Hürriyet reaches 2 million people with its print versions and an additional 2.2 million readers through its Web site,” she said, noting that approximately 1.5 million readers follow the daily through social media. 

As today’s online media offers the ability to reach wide masses of readers, surpassing the conventional distribution channels, content has regained its importance, according to Sabancı. “Apple and others already do the distribution part; what we need to do is to create unique content. I am saying this clearly: Content is king, and our business is content.”

Excluding media competitors based in the U.K., hurriyet.com.tr, Hürriyet’s online news portal, is the biggest of its kind in Europe in terms of access, Sabancı noted. 

Airline grows 19 percent

Temel Kotil, president and CEO of Turkish Airlines, said at the event that the national flag carrier grew by 19 percent in number of passengers in the first two months of the year, compared to the same period in 2011. This is compared with 4.8 percent in Europe, he said. “We are climbing up the slope now; you cannot stop when you are on the slope.”