İzmir Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Basın Müzesi

About İzmir Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Basın Müzesi

The İzmir Gazeteciler Cemiyeti Basın Müzesi (İzmir Press Museum) occupies one of the annex buildings of the 19th-century Aziz Vukolos (Ayavukla) Church in Basmane, in the Kapılar area of Konak. Created by the İzmir Journalists' Association (İGC) with the support of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Ege University, it opened on 6 September 2012 to tell the long story of the printed press in İzmir and how the city's newspapers reshaped themselves over time into today's "İzmir media". The tools of the trade are shown from their earliest forms to later models: printing presses, telex machines, old cameras, typewriters and back issues of newspapers, with exhibits dating back as far as 1870. Rooms include a Hasan Tahsin room, an Attila İlhan room, a TV studio, a print shop, a darkroom fitted out for developing and printing photographs by hand, and a paste-up room showing how pages were cut and assembled before computers. The most affecting space is the Killed Journalists Room, built around personal belongings donated by the families of murdered journalists. Among them are Uğur Mumcu's computer, the sweater Metin Göktepe was wearing when he was killed, Abdi İpekçi's fountain pen and typewriter, Çetin Emeç's press card, tie and handkerchief, and items that belonged to Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, Turan Dursun, Ümit Kaftancıoğlu and Kutlu Adalı. A list of journalists attacked and killed in Anatolia over the last hundred years is displayed, and visitors can leave their thoughts in a memory book at the door. The church next door survived the great fire of 1922, housed İzmir's first archaeology museum from 1927 until 1951 and, after restoration, is now used for cultural events, so the two make an easy combined visit near Basmane station. Visiting: the İGC says the museum is open on weekdays except Monday, 09:00 to 17:00. Other guides give slightly different hours and report free entry, so it is worth checking ahead.