This research examines the state of new media applications and rights-based journalism courses in communication faculties in Turkey, based on the experiences and evaluations of students. The research, coordinated by IPS Communication Foundation/Bianet and NewsLabTurkey, covers a total of eight universities in six cities: Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Gaziantep, Mersin, and Yozgat. The universities included in the research are Ankara, Hacı Bayram Veli, Bilgi, Yaşar, Başkent, Gaziantep, Mersin, and Yozgat Bozok Universities.

The research is significant in terms of addressing the opportunities and deficiencies in communication education at the undergraduate level through the experiences and evaluations of students. Existing literature mainly focuses on the examination of communication faculty curricula, with relatively less attention given to student evaluations and experiences. Therefore, this research is one of the first studies in this field.

The research follows a mixed research design, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Surveys, focus group interviews, and non-systematic observations were used together to reveal general trends, averages, and differences. As the population constituting the universe is “university students,” a type of homogeneity, purposeful and convenience sampling methods were employed.

The data for the research is based on an online survey conducted from December 5, 2022, to January 3, 2023, and a focus group interview. A total of 185 students from the six cities and seven universities mentioned above participated in the survey, and 128 surveys were included in the analysis according to validity criteria. The focus group interview was conducted with the participation of eight students from four universities (Ankara, Izmir Yaşar, Yozgat Bozok, and Başkent), lasting approximately 1.5 hours (although Başkent University students did not participate in the survey, they were included in the focus group interview). The interview was recorded with the permission of the interviewees, and the interviewers’ names were anonymized in the report.

Both the survey and the focus group interview included questions about the existence of new media application and rights-based journalism courses in their faculties, the students’ needs and interests regarding these courses, and their evaluation of their competence in these areas after receiving education. The survey form included multiple-choice and open-ended questions, as well as judgment statements based on the Likert scale. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS 25.0 statistical software, and graphs and tables were used for visualization.

The presentation of the findings is based on the categories in the survey. In this framework, the report consists of four sections. The first section presents the demographic distribution of the students participating in the research, based on the university, department, and class information. The second section focuses on the evaluations of rights-based journalism courses. This section includes whether rights-based journalism courses exist in universities, whether students take these courses, and their approaches to rights-based journalism. The third section examines students’ evaluations of new media applications in journalism. The term “new media applications” encompasses various dimensions such as digital journalism and mobile applications, production-content development for new media, digital security and visualization tools, new media economy, data journalism, search engine optimization, user analytics reading, algorithms’ operation, and individual journalism practices. The fourth and final section addresses the deficiencies in the education process, practical training, and evaluations related to employment.

Although this research represents the trends in the field reasonably well considering its subject, sample size, and scope, it should be noted that there is a need for more extensive studies in this area. It is hoped that this research will contribute, albeit to a small extent, to the discussions on the present and future of communication education in Turkey.

The evaluations of communication faculty students regarding rights-based journalism and new media applications do not present a promising picture in the education process. While there is a regression in rights-based journalism in communication faculties, it is also observed that the education system does not adequately cover the practices and skills required by the digital era.

It can be said that rights-based journalism practices do not hold a significant weight in communication faculties today, and students cannot acquire sufficient theoretical and practical education/knowledge in this regard, leading to a decline in their interest. In societies like Turkey, where the democratic climate is damaged, there is a clear need to develop and popularize the perspective and practices of rights-based journalism. Considering the central role of rights-based journalism in the development of journalism and freedom of expression, it appears important to reconsider rights-based journalism practices in both university and non-university communication education and renew students’ interest in this field.

There is also a significant inadequacy in digital journalism and new media applications. It is determined that education practices in this regard are considerably lagging behind, and the new tools and applications of the digital age have not been meaningfully integrated into the education process yet. In most faculties, students graduate without acquiring any knowledge or practical experience in these areas. The lack of trained faculty members in these fields also emerges as a significant factor.

Differences between foundation and public universities are identified in this regard. While foundation universities are seen to be more effective in terms of technical infrastructure, hardware, and application issues compared to public universities, it is observed that the new tools and applications have not yet reached a sufficient level of prevalence and integration into the education system in these schools either. This situation leaves the formal communication education quite deficient in capturing evolving practices, and attempts are made to compensate for this deficiency through non-university training channels.

The shortcomings and expectations indicated by students regarding communication education mainly revolve around digital journalism and new media applications. However, the need for a journalistic perspective and acquisition still remains significant. It should be emphasized that while technical and practical skills are undoubtedly necessary for journalism, reducing journalism solely to these skills would be unfair to both journalism and university education. Historically, the meaning, social function, and institutional structure of journalism are undergoing transformation, rapidly changing the required journalist type and conditions for practicing journalism. The change in the social relevance and technological framework of journalism manifests itself institutionally, formally, and qualitatively in journalism education. This situation leads to a shift in the education system towards producing students who are more competitive, equipped with practical and technical skills, knowledgeable about market requirements, and capable of naturalizing them. It should be emphasized that an education approach that does not consider employment opportunities and an unquestioning approach that fetishizes market requirements will not yield meaningful results. At this point, it is important to strive for a reasonable balance between industry demands and the professional and social requirements of university education. The search for new media applications and journalism practices should also be approached within this framework.

This situation, which needs to be taken into account in terms of the present and future of communication education, also requires evaluation in terms of policies. How digital journalism and new media applications will be incorporated into communication education will be related to decisions regarding the structure of communication faculties, the purpose of communication education, and the expectations from future communication professionals. On the other hand, it will be shaped by problems arising from the widening gaps between public and foundation universities and among public universities themselves. Training programs conducted by external institutions in these areas emerge as a strong tendency to address this educational deficiency.

In conclusion, for rights-based journalism and new media applications to find a meaningful place in the education system, it appears important and necessary both for the digital-based new media tools to be introduced and find practical use in the education process of the new generation, and for the democratic potential in society to be revealed through this means.