At least 14 journalists have been injured, some seriously, since the outbreak of violent protests in Turkey. The offices of media organisations have also come under attack.
The police have been accused of brutality towards media workers who have been covering the demonstrations against the development of Gezi Park on Taksim Square. Journalists report suffering from the effects of tear gas and water hoses.
Reuters photojournalist Osman Orsal was seriously injured when he was hit on the head by a tear gas grenade last Friday (31 May). He was taken to hospital where his condition is said to be improving.
The same night, Selçuk Samiloglu, a photographer with the daily paper, Hürriyet, was wounded on the hand by a rubber bullet and then suffered a head injury when hit by a projectile. He underwent surgery in a nearby mobile clinic before being taken to hospital.
Also on Friday, Ismail Afacan, who reports for the paper Günlük Evrensel and the national TV station, Hayat TV, was injured in the eye when a water hose was used by a police armoured vehicle.
A reporter for the newspaper Sol, Onur Emre, was injured by a tear gas canister. An Ankara-based colleague, Fatos Kalaçay, was reported to have been assaulted by police officers. And two other reporters - Ugur Can of the Dogan News Agency and Tugba Tekerek of the Taraf daily - claimed to have been roughed up.
Mesut Ciftçi, a reporter for the privately-owned pro-government TV station ATV, and cameraman Ismail Velioglu were injured in the shoulder and the hand respectively by rubber bullets. Olgu Kundakçi, a reporter for the left-wing daily Birgün suffered a head injury due to a rubber bullet.
On Monday (3 June), Eren Güvenlik, a cameraman for the IMC television, recorded police firing tear gas directly at him. He said only one pellet hit him.
Daily Milliyet correspondent Sertaç Koç sustained bruises to his left leg after being hit by tear gas pellets in Ankara.
TV and newspaper offices attacked
On Monday night (3 June), protesters threw stones at the Ankara offices of the pro-government media outlets Kanal 24 TV and the daily paper, Star. Demonstrators in Istanbul broke the equipment of a CNN Türk camera crew while they were conducting interviews in Taksim Square.
CNN news editor Ali Güven told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that camera crews were now afraid to go into Gezi Park. He said: "It is understandable that there is a reaction to the media's coverage, but the media have corrected their stance now."
He was referring to criticism of some Turkish media for not covering the early stages of the protests or covering them only from a pro-government viewpoint.
Demonstrators in Taksim Square, along with actors, writers, musicians and intellectuals, have all registered objections to the coverage - or lack of coverage - by the main media outlets, including rolling news channels.
They accuse the television stations NTV - whose bus was overturned by demonstrators - CNN Türk, Haber Türk, Kanal D, ATV, Star TV, Show TV and TRT, as well as the newspapers Star, Sabah and HaberTürk of biased coverage.
The government, led by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has also come under verbal fire for suggesting that it might restrict internet use. On Sunday, access was suspended for several hours in some parts of Istanbul.
Prime minister criticises social networking sites
It is generally accepted that the demonstrations have been organised through social networking sites and Erdogan has openly criticised Twitter.
The New York-based CPJ, the Paris-based press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) and the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) plus its affiliate, the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), have all condemned the Turkish police actions against journalists and the possibility of internet access being denied.
An RWB statement said: "We strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of journalists by the police during the protests. In common with dozens of organisations, including the Journalists' Association of Turkey, we express our outrage.
"We call for the safety of journalists covering the protests to be guaranteed and for the protest movement to be treated fairly impartially by government media."
And the CPJ's Europe and central Asia programme coordinator, Nina Ognianova, said."Restrictions on the internet will only promote rumour and conjecture at a time that the country needs facts and freely expressed views.
"The free exchange of news and information is important at all times, but it is vital at times of unrest as only a well-informed society has the capacity to restore and heal itself."
Sources:IFEX/Reporters Without Borders/CPJ/IPI/SEEMO