There were multiple newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire.

European influences The first newspapers in the Ottoman Empire were owned by foreigners living there who wanted to make propaganda about the Western world.Stavrianos, p. 211. The earliest was printed in September 1795 by the Palais de France in Pera (now Beyoğlu), during the embassy of Raymond de Verninac-Saint-Maur. It was issued fortnightly under the title "Bulletin de Nouvelles", until March 1796, it seems. Afterwards, it was published under the name "Gazette française de Constantinople" from September 1796 to May 1797, and "Mercure Oriental" from May to July 1797.Groc & Çağlar, p. 6. Its main purpose was to convey information about the politics of Post-Revolutionary France to foreigners living in Istanbul; therefore, it had little impact on local population.

In 1800, during the French occupation of Egypt, a newspaper in Arabic, Al-Tanbih (The Alert), was planned to be issued, with the purpose of disseminating in Egypt the ideals of the French Revolution.Wendell, p. 143. It was founded by the general Jacques-François Menou, who appointed Ismail al-Khashab as its editor. However, there is doubt the newspaper was actually ever printed. Menou eventually capitulated after Alexandria was besieged by British forces in 1801.

In 1828, Khedive of Egypt Muhammad Ali ordered, as part of the drastic reforms he was implementing in the province, the local establishment of the gazette Vekâyi-i Mısriyye (Egyptian Affairs), written in Ottoman Turkish in one column with an Arabic translation in a second column (Ottoman Turkish text was in the right one and Arabic text in the left one). It was later edited in Arabic only, under the Arabic title "Al-Waqaʾiʿ al-Miṣriyya" (The Egyptian Affairs).Tripp (ed.), p. 2; Amin, Fortna & Frierson, p. 99; Hill, p. 172.

The first official gazette of the Ottoman State was published in 1831, on the order of Mahmud II. It was entitled "Le Moniteur ottoman", perhaps referring to the French newspaper Le Moniteur universel. Its weekly issues were written in French and edited by Alexandre Blacque at the expense of the Porte. A few months later, a firman of the sultan ordered that a Turkish gazette be published under the named "Takvim-i Vekayi" (Calendar of Affairs), which would be effectively translating Le Moniteur ottoman, and issued irregularly until November 4, 1922. Laws and decrees of the sultan were published in it, as well as descriptions of court festivities.

The first non-official Turkish newspaper, Ceride-i Havadis (Register of Events), was published by an Englishman, William Churchill, in 1840. The first private newspaper to be published by Turkish journalists, Tercüman-ı Ahvâl (Ottoman Turkish: Interpreter of Events), was founded by İbrahim Şinasi and Agah Efendi and issued in October 1860; the owners stated that "freedom of expression is a part of human nature", thereby initiating an era of free press as inspired by the ideals of 18th century French Enlightenment.Ágoston & Masters, p. 433. In the meantime, the first private newspaper written solely in Arabic, Mir'at al-ahwal, had been founded by a Syrian poet, Rizqallah Hassun, in 1855, but it had been suspended a year later by Ottoman authorities because of its critical tone regarding their policies. Subsequently, several newspapers flourished in the provinces. A new press code inspired by French law, Matbuat Nizamnamesi, was issued in 1864, accompanied by the establishment of a censorship office.

When Sultan Abdulhamid II revoked the constitution, Ottomans established newspapers based in foreign countries as they felt they could no longer operate freely in the empire.Kendall, p. 338. Elisabeth Kendall, author of "Between Politics and Literature: Journals in Alexandria and Istanbul at the End of the Nineteenth Century," wrote that therefore by the 1880s "purer cultural journalism" became the focus of publications that remained in the imperial capital.Kendall, p. 340.

By city The Ottoman capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul), was the centre of the press activity.Kendall, p. 339.

In 1876 there were forty-seven journals published in Constantinople. Most were in minority and foreign languages, and thirteen of them were in Ottoman Turkish.Kendall, p. 331. Many newspapers in non-Muslim minority and foreign languages were produced in Galata, with production in daylight hours and distribution at nighttime; Ottoman authorities did not allow production of the Galata-based newspapers at night.

Kendall wrote that Constantinople by the 1870s lacked specialised literary journals found in Alexandria, Egypt. What journals that were in Constantinople had a general focus,Kendall, p. 337. and Kendall stated that the potential audience base being "extremely limited" frustrated the development of these journals. An 1875 stamp duty caused, in Kendall's eyes, "more marginal" ones to vanish.

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire Constantinople, now Istanbul, remained the centre of Turkish journalism.

Turkish Vekayi-i giridiyye, a newspaper published in Ortoman Egypt after 1830, was the first newspaper in the Turkish language in the empire. It also had a bilingual Turkish-Greek version.Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 22 (PDF p. 24)

Ottoman Turkish publications included: Alemdar – Anti-CUP newspaper, eventually became the organ of the Friends of England Association Amele Gazetesi – Organ for the Socialist Workers' Federation Anadolu Ajansı – "Anatolia Agency," Newspaper agency for the Turkish nationalist movement Aydede – Periodical under Refik Halit Karay Aydınlık – Organ of the Communist Party of Turkey Basiret – Conservative anti-Western pan-Islamist newspaper Cerîde-i Havâdis – which included a supplement called Ruzname Ceride-i-Havadis. It was the first privately published Ottoman Turkish publication in the Ottoman Empire. It was founded by William Churchill. Cerîde-i Askeriyye – Official newspaper of the army Diyojen – First satirical magazine, banned by authorities Cem/Djem – Satirical magazine during the Second Constitutional Era, edited by Cemil Cem, banned by authorities Cerîde-i Ticaret Güleryüz – Satirical magazine Hadika – Young Ottoman publication, edited by Ebüzziya Tevfik Hakikat – Journal of the War Ministry Hakimiyet-i Milliye – Organ for the Turkish Nationalists Hamiyet - Magazine Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete – First long standing Ottoman media written for women, by women. Supporter of Yıldız Palace Harp Mecmuası – Journal of the War Ministry Hayâl – Edited by Ebüzziya Tevfik HürriyetStrauss, Johann. "Twenty Years in the Ottoman capital: the memoirs of Dr. Hristo Tanev Stambolski of Kazanlik (1843-1932) from an Ottoman point of view." In: Herzog, Christoph and Richard Wittmann (editors). Istanbul - Kushta - Constantinople: Narratives of Identity in the Ottoman Capital, 1830-1930. Routledge, 10 October 2018. , 9781351805223. p. 267. – Newspaper of Namık Kemal's İbret – Istanbul newspaper with Namık Kemal as chief editor, previously owned by a Christian İkdam – One of the most popular newspapers of the capital İnkilâb – Young Ottoman publication İnsaniyet – Ottoman Socialist Party organ İstanbul Gazetesi İstikbal – Young Ottoman publication by Ali Şefkati İştirak – Organ for the Socialist Party of Turkey İttihad – CUP organ Kalem – Satirical magazine during the Second Constitutional Era, edited by Cemil Cem and Refik Halit Karay Karagöz – Satirical magazine Kurtuluş – Turkish Workers and Peasants Socialist Party organ Malumat – Supporter of Yıldız Palace Mecmua-i Ebüzziya – Established by Ebüzziya Tevfik in 1880 and running until 1887, then restarting in 1894, and ending in 1912. Mecmua-i Fünun Mecmua-i İbretnüma – Published from 1865 to 1866 in Cemiyet-i Kitabet, it had sixteen issues. Mecmua İber-u İntibah – In operation from 1862 to 1864, according to Kendall, it was the "first specialized literary journal" to ever be published in Turkey. The total number of issues is eight. Medeniyet – Ottoman Socialist Party organ Mes'ûliyet – Freedom and Accord Party organ Meşveret – Ahmet Rıza's outfit as a Committee of Union and Progress organ, had a French supplemental Millet – Newspaper during the Second Constitutional Era Minber – Organ of the Ottoman Liberal People's Party Mir'at – Young Ottoman publication Mizan – Young Turk publication of Mizancı Murat Muharrir (Constantinople) - In operation from 1876 to 1878, it was operated by Ebüzziya Tevfik and had a total of eight issues. Muhbir – Newspaper of Ali Suavi Osmanlı – First a CUP organ, then a liberal organ Peyam – Ali Kemal's attempt at a newspaper until it was shuttered by censors. Peyam-ı Sabah – Merger of Ali Kemal's defunct Peyam and Mihran Efendi's Sabah Ravzat-ül Maarif (Constantinople) - Published from 1870 to 1871, focusing on science and literature, it had six issues. Rumeli – CUP organ Saadet – Continuation of Ceride-i Havadis Sabah Saraj Serbestî – Liberal newspaper, whose editor in chief was Hasan Fehmi Bey Servet – Established by ethnic Greek journalist Demetrius Nicolaides in 1889Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 29 (PDF p. 31) Servet-i FünunKendall, p. 330. CITED: p. 342. – It was at first a supplement of Servet. Sosyalist – Ottoman Socialist Party organ Şûrâ-yı Ümmet – CUP organ Tarık Tanin – CUP organ Tasvîr-i Efkâr – First a Young Ottoman publication, before reopening in 1909. Takvîm-i Vekâyi – Official imperial newspaper Takvîmli Gazete – Continuation of Alemdar Teminat – Freedom and Accord Party organ Terakki – Private Initiative and Decentralization Committee organ Terakki-i Muhadderat – Woman's magazine Tercümân-ı Hakîkat - Established in 1878 by Ahmed Midhat Tercüman-ı Ahvâl Teşrih – Continuation of Alemdar Türk – Young Turk magazine edited by Ali Kemal Türk İktisad Mecmuası/Revue Économique de Turquie Türkiye'de Emraz-ı Etfal/La Pédiatrie en Turquie Ulûm – Young Ottoman publication Ulûm-u İktisadiye ve İçtimaiye Mecmuası – Liberal economic journal Vakit – Young Ottoman publication Volkan – Islamist newspaper published by Derviş Vahdeti, closed after the 31 March Incident

Local newspapers Hukuk-u Beşer – İzmir Köylü – İzmir Kürdistan – Young Turk publication with ties to the CUP Peyman – Diyarbakır Tuna – Rusçuk Ümid – Cyprus Yeni Asır – Salonica Yeni Edirne – Edirne

There was a Karamanli Turkish (Turkish in Greek characters) publication, Anatoli, published from 1850 to 1922, Cited: p. xi made by Evangelinos Misalaidis. Other publications in Karamanli were Anatol Ahteri (Ανατόλ Αχτερί), Angeliaforos, Angeliaforos coçuklar içun, Şafak (Σαφάκ), and Terakki (Τερακκή). The second and third were created by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Demetrius Nicolaides also applied to make his own Karamanli publication, Asya ("Asia"), but was denied. Evangelina Baltia and Ayșe Kavak, authors of "Publisher of the newspaper Konstantinoupolis for half a century," wrote that they could find no information explaining why Nicolaides' proposal was turned down.

Arabic

Al-Bassir – Young Turk publication by Emin Arslan Al-Tanbih, The first Arabic-language newspaper in Egypt, published by the French, and headquartered in Alexandria, around the start of the 1800s. Jurnāl al-Khidīw, The first official Egyptian newspaper, in Arabic and based in Cairo, was and appeared over ten years after al-Tanbih. Al Jawaib, began in Constantinople, established by Fāris al-Shidyāq a.k.a. Ahmed Faris Efendi (1804–1887), after 1860. It published Ottoman laws in Arabic,Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 25 (PDF p. 27) including the Ottoman Constitution of 1876.Strauss, "A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire," p. 34 (PDF p. 36) Al-Karmil – Anti-Zionist newspaper owned by Najib Nassar Al-Quds – Founded by Jurji Habib Hanania Al-Quds Al-Sharif Suriya

Several provincial newspapers were in Arabic.