Müzmin Muhalif Bir Pera Gazetesi The Constantinople Messenger.

The emergence of periodicals in the Ottoman world reshaped readership habits and brought new associations and instrumentalities to the Empire's linguistic communities. Turkish assumed a new role as the language of written communication, while French, with its international status, served as an essential tool for transmitting knowledge worldwide. In such an environment, English publications in the Ottoman lands were very flexible and pragmatic about including French-language content on their pages. In line with the demands of their audiences and their own commercial needs, they did not hesitate to offer bilingual content or to produce French editions when necessary. This article focuses on these English periodicals in the Ottoman Empire and analyzes The Constantinople Messenger, an international English-language news paper published in Istanbul along with its related publications. The article studies the transformations of the newspaper as it emerged and expanded in the public sphere, and investigates its content and primary target audience discussing the alterations in its name, language, content, news sources, and proprietors. It also evaluates the penalties and limitations imposed on the newspaper within the framework of the capitulations. The article touches upon the formation of Ottoman public opinion and makes extensive use of Ottoman archival documents, British journals, as well as a content analysis of the newspaper itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]