Uğur Dündar

Uğur Dündar — Biography

Uğur Dündar is remembered as one of the figures who brought investigative journalism to Turkish television news. He is most closely identified with the programme Arena, which began in 1992 and reached a wide audience by exposing food fraud, corruption and links with the mafia. In December 2025 he announced that he was leaving Sözcü and moved to Halk TV.

His career began at TRT: in 1970 he passed the corporation's entrance exam and became a producer, took a BBC production course the same year, and worked for roughly twenty years at TRT as producer, director and presenter, preparing and presenting the news programme Tele Vizyon in 1991-1992. The following era belonged to private channels: he was a main news anchor and executive at Show TV, Kanal D, Star TV and CNN Türk, and headed the newsroom at Star TV until he left in 2011. In print he wrote columns for Hürriyet, Milliyet, Posta and Sözcü, writing for Sözcü from 2012 to 2025. He received the Sedat Simavi Foundation Award in 1978.

He was born in the village of Akören in Istanbul's Silivri district and is registered in Karagümrük, in Fatih. He attended Vefa High School and graduated from Istanbul University's Institute of Journalism. At Fenerbahçe he was a board member between 2000 and 2002, was elected chairman of the High Council on 9 April 2022 and did not stand for re-election in 2024.