Nalan Sipar: The Journalist Who Refused to Be Silenced
In the bustling heart of Berlin, where the echoes of history intertwine with the vibrant pulse of modernity, a new narrative is being forged by Nalan Sipar. A German-Kurdish journalist, Sipar’s journey is a testament to resilience, vision, and the unwavering power of community. Her story is not just about building a media brand; it’s about challenging established norms, giving a voice to the unheard, and proving that passion, when fueled by purpose, can overcome any obstacle.
It was the early days of the 2020 global pandemic in Berlin when Nalan Sipar, then working at Deutsche Welle, saw a critical need. The German-Turkish community, a significant part of Berlin’s diverse tapestry, lacked accessible information in their native language about the unfolding crisis. Her proposal to create Turkish-language content was met with a resounding ‘no’ from her employer, citing state contract limitations. But for Sipar, the need was too urgent to ignore. She decided to go it alone.
“I started doing it and the channel took off,” Nalan recalls. “People were asking me questions… I was covering all those topics and after half a year I lost my job.” The timing was brutal. “It was literally the hardest time of my life because it was the pandemic. You are scared of everything. You are literally anxious about your life and then you lose your job.” Yet, amidst the fear and uncertainty, one force kept her moving: the profound connection with the community she was serving.
When Institutions Say No, Communities Say Yes
“I would say the only thing that kept me moving was the love of my community,” Nalan explains. The feedback was immediate, personal, and deeply moving. An elderly woman in Kreuzberg, her face obscured by a mask, recognized Sipar and shared, “I watch your videos every night before I go to bed.” A second-generation immigrant sent the videos to her father, who, despite battling dementia and having forgotten German, could still understand his native Turkish. “If you see the real impact of your work on real people and get this feedback, it’s insane,” Sipar reflects. “It keeps me moving because it feeds me emotionally somehow.”
Nalan took loans from friends to cover rent, making sacrifices, but the validation from her audience was far more valuable than financial comfort. This isn’t a tale of struggling until German institutions finally grant acceptance. Instead, it’s a powerful narrative about what happens when you stop seeking permission and start addressing the clear, unmet needs of a community.
The Unfilled Gap: A Media Desert for German-Turks
After a year and a half of independently running her online channel, Nalan had a profound realization: “Turkish people are the biggest immigrant community in Germany. They have been living here for the last 60 years and there’s not a single media outlet specifically for them.” She wasn’t referring to Turkish media broadcasting from Turkey, but a dedicated German-Turkish platform that could serve all generations, bridge cultural divides, and cover inner-German politics in both languages.
When she proposed covering immigrant topics at Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), the response was dismissive: “This is not our target group.” Sipar’s retort was sharp and insightful: “The Turkish population in Germany also pays taxes… if people pay their taxes you have to serve them, too.” The statistics support her argument: 43% of young people in Germany have a migration background, yet only 5% of journalists are people of color. “The media is about holding power, right? And they don’t want to share the power,” she asserts, defining ‘power’ not just as financial might, but as the exclusive right to define what is “German” and who belongs through media representation.
Nalan’s vision for her company, MedyaN, is to dismantle this hierarchy. She isn’t seeking a seat at their table; she’s building her own. MedyaN aims to be a bridge for the migrant community while simultaneously holding a mirror up to the majority, prompting introspection. Her stated goal: to “inform, inspire, and empower” those who have been systematically overlooked, returning the “power” of the media to all taxpayers.
The Eight-Minute Conversation That Changed Everything
For two to three years, Nalan tirelessly pitched her vision to investors and media accelerators, only to be met with closed doors. One particularly disheartening encounter involved a woman who, upon hearing Sipar’s five-year vision of working from a beach house in California while managing a Berlin team, laughed and suggested she “go back to Turkey because they also have some beaches there.” This incident left Sipar questioning her abilities and intelligence for months.
Then, what Nalan describes as “serendipity” struck. A Stanford professor, whose flight was canceled, found himself stuck in Berlin. He had previously liked one of Sipar’s LinkedIn posts about the need for a German-Turkish media outlet. They met at a café. “It was 11:08… and he was like, you know what, we have a great journalism fellowship at Stanford why don’t you apply and I was like… it has been only eight minutes. I have been talking to Germans for the last two or three years and nobody has ever shown me any opportunity.” Overwhelmed with emotion, Sipar started to cry. “It was magical.”
“You Belong Here”: A Transformative Experience at Stanford
Nalan spent nine months in 2025 at Stanford as part of the John S. Knight Fellowship, making history as the first journalist of color from Germany to participate in its 60-year legacy. During the initial session, the fellows were told, “You guys made it here and you belong here.” Sipar recounts the profound impact of these words: “No one has ever told me this in Germany. No one has ever told me you belong here… it was such an appreciation of your personality, your human being… whereas in Germany I wasn’t feeling seen with my ideas.”
The fellowship transcended mere business acumen; it transformed her relationship with herself. “This racism kills your self… it kills so many layers of your personality,” she reflects. Swimming in Stanford’s pool, she experienced a profound sense of liberation: “Oh, damn. I feel like I’m 15 again… I’m actually a very self-confident person. I used to always be so confident, but in Germany, I made myself so small… every time when I hear a ‘no’ or I feel like I don’t belong to the people of Germany, I just back up.” At Stanford, Nalan rediscovered her true self: “I don’t want to give a f*** anymore about anything to do with discrimination and there’s a vision I hold that keeps me going.”
What Germany Couldn’t See, Community Could
Upon her return to Berlin, an Indian woman Sipar met shared a poignant sentiment: “I used to be so powerful in India… I would write letters to the president… now, in Germany I feel like I’m worth nothing.” Nalan acknowledges this pervasive pattern but offers a crucial reframe: she didn’t wait for external validation or power in Germany to start building. Her foundation was built on serving her community, a service that became her ultimate validation.
In September 2025, Nalan returned to Berlin with a crystal-clear vision for MedyaN (meaning “your media” in Turkish). It is set to be Germany’s first media company for people of color, made by people of color, beginning with the German-Turkish community. “There is not a single media company here in Germany that tries to connect migrant communities with German society,” she states. “I want to give German natives without a migration background a mirror so they can see how we see them.”
Human-Centered Journalism as Resistance: Nalan’s Kitchen
Nalan’s newest venture, a cooking show titled “Nalan’s Kitchen,” is a vibrant embodiment of what she calls “human-centered journalism.” She points out that even the New York Times generates significant revenue from its cooking app, highlighting the power of human connection through shared experiences. The deeper motivation, however, stems from observing societal divisions and the erosion of human-centered narratives. “Once you lose the human-centered narrative… if you don’t see a human being in me you can do whatever you want to me… This is something that’s happening in the US right now and has happened here in Germany, too.”
Her response? To “turn the table.” Referencing Goebbels’ WWII propaganda tactics, she says, “We know the recipe about how to manipulate people… So why not turn the tables and do the exact thing, but with love.” The first episode of “Nalan’s Kitchen” seamlessly weaves dating stories with discussions of structural problems, all over a home-cooked meal. It’s available with German, English, and Arabic subtitles. “Reuters studies show exactly how people are leaning towards not watching the news anymore,” Nalan notes. “For me as a journalist, the question is always, ‘but how can I still reach you and make it interesting for you to talk about socio-political issues?’ because if we are not talking about those problems we have a major problem collectively.”
The Vision Moving Forward: Germany’s Oprah Winfrey
Nalan is currently producing her cooking show with the financial backing of German philanthropist Kai Viehof. She is actively engaging with investors to establish MedyaN as an independent digital platform and dreams of creating an academy for immigrant children aspiring to become journalists. When asked about her ultimate vision, she confidently declares her ambition to become Germany’s Oprah Winfrey. “She also just started with a show and now she owns her own cable network… Why not?”
What This Means for Berlin: Connection and a Real Power Shift
Nalan emphasizes that her work isn’t solely about people of color building their own platforms; it’s fundamentally about connection. “There are a bunch of people out there like white Germans who are willing to understand our stories, our struggles, but they just don’t get the opportunity for it.” She critically observes that when German media discusses immigrant communities without their direct involvement, “You guys are actually just gossiping about ‘us’.” Her cooking show actively invites people to share their stories, and she is seeking guests and investors who believe in this inclusive vision. She is also collecting donations to develop MedyaN into “a proper company with a sufficient budget.”
Nalan’s story is compelling not merely because she triumphed over rejection, but because she redefined success entirely, guided by her own heart. She didn’t wait for German institutions to recognize her worth or for external power to begin building. Instead, she asked, “Where is there a need I can serve?” and then served it with unwavering dedication. She refused to be held back by Germany’s outdated social systems.
Post-Stanford, Nalan operates with a new mantra: “Ain’t nobody can tell me anything… They can tell me ‘no’ however many times they can. I don’t give a s*** about it anymore… Even if it’s not only about discrimination and racism it’s also a huge business opportunity that you are not able to see right in front of you.” This isn’t arrogance; it’s the resolute stance of a woman who, after years of making herself small and questioning her intelligence, finally remembered her inherent self-confidence. She has chosen never to shrink again.
For Germans seeking to bridge the societal gap, the answer is already being built. They are invited to participate, not as saviors, but as fellow humans and residents of Germany willing to see and be seen. For immigrants in Berlin still waiting for permission, still making themselves small, Nalan’s story serves as powerful permission. You don’t need anyone in Berlin to tell you that you belong. Decide that you do, and create your loving vision alongside Nalan. Put more of what you love into the city by doing what best serves your goals and community. The rest will follow.
