Nalan Sipar

It all began with the Covid-19 pandemic when a plethora of questions reached Nalan Sipar from the German-Turkish community, such as: "Are Turkish genes immune to the virus?" Without access to German-speaking news, many people got taken in by fake news they could access in Turkish. Sipar noticed the dangerous dimensions mis- and disinformation in migrant communities could reach, and took matters into her hands.

She sent out a tweet asking the federal government to provide basic information about the virus in different languages. The tweet went viral, and the media outlets started adapting. Sipar began collaborating with the German Ministry of Health, creating the first Turkish-language videos against Covid-19 disinformation. In the first 100 days, she posted 86 videos on her YouTube channel.

During the German general elections, Sipar collaborated with the Berlin State Office for Political Education to provide information on elections to the Turkish-speaking community, cover parties' campaigns, electoral promises and candidates, and to include live interviews with prominent politicians. A live stream followed the background reports on election night. All were in the Turkish language, focusing on the needs and interests of Turkish-German communities.

How does she gain and maintain trust? "I have never expressed my personal opinion in my clips. That is a sign of quality - essential for my community," Sipar said.

Since 2021, Nalan Sipar Media has been officially registered as a start-up. The YouTube channel content now ranges from daily news to live reports, street interviews, and a late-night show, depending on the available funding. Nalan Sipar became the first woman to win the Entrepreneurial Journalists competition of the German Journalists Association (DJV).