Mesele Ekonomi (in English: Economy is the issue) is a YouTube channel launched in 2018 by two professionals with backgrounds in finance and economic journalism.

Amid the significant economic downturn Turkey has faced in recent years, the channel built a solid audience featuring expert opinions focused on political economy. The founders emphasise that Mesele Ekonomi is the only organisation in the country offering economic analysis with a political context an independent mindset.

In recent months, and to respond to the high demand from its audience, the organisation has added breaking news and live coverage of events to the YouTube channel. The founders preferred using YouTube to build a sustainable business model and to receive revenue from advertising and sponsorship. Additionally, LinkedIn is another crucial platform for the organisation to connect with potential advertisers.

The channel's community reached over 70,000 subscribers in 2021, while paid memberships also increased. Mesele Ekonomi plans to diversify its revenue sources to lower the percentage of grants in the long term.

Source: Oasis Europe

Last updated date: November 2025

Location:
İstanbul, Turkey
Year the organization started publishing:
2018
Languages:
Turkish
Type of coverage:
National

Content

Editorial coverage:
A single topic (such as education, environment or criminal justice)
Type of content produced by theme:
Environment
Politics
Economy and business
Entertainment and culture
Society and human rights
Entrepreneurship
Economy and finance
Gender
Migration
Journalism genres:
Interviews and reporting
Opinion
Journalism coverage types and techniques:
Breaking news
Live coverage of events
Engaged, community-driven or participatory journalism
Explanatory journalism
Tech platforms and other mediums used:
Website
Social media platforms
Podcast
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Primary tech platform or medium used to publish content:
Youtube

Audience and reach

Social media audience

Facebook number of followers:
283
Twitter number of followers:
54,600
Instagram number of followers:
3,483
YouTube number of followers:
118,000

Management and team

Founders

Female:
0
Male:
2
Founders:
Semih Sakallı, Sinan Akgünay
Directors:
Semih Sakallı, Sinan Akgünay, Gülener Kırnalı, Merve Özçelik

Team

Full-time employees:
5
Part-time employees:
0
Freelancers or consultants:
10
Volunteers:
3

Business structure and revenue sources

Organization tax status:
For-profit
All revenue sources reported by media leaders:
Grants
Advertising
Content services for others
Audience support / reader revenue
Grants or investment from philanthropic organisations
Affiliate advertising
National advertising sold by own team
YouTube channel income
Content development for other non-journalistic companies
Memberships
The primary source of revenue reported by media leaders:
Grants
The second most important revenue source reported:
National advertising sold by own team

Transparency

Doesn’t publish information about annual revenue
Doesn’t publish the names of donors
Doesn’t have an ethics policy / manual
Doesn’t have a data privacy policy
Has a whistleblower policy
Doesn’t publish a whistleblower policy
Has a complaints policy
Doesn’t publish a complaints policy
Doesn’t have a sexual harassment or institutional violence policy
Publishes up to date information about its team

Why is this profile included?

This media outlet is part of our directory because it meets SembraMedia’s inclusion criteria: it produces original content, serves the public interest, and works with independence and transparency. This profile was developed using information provided directly by the media outlet, through surveys or interviews. We aim to keep the information current, but SembraMedia does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness, and recommends verifying any key details with the media organization.

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