Television News Broadcasting and Journalism in Turkey
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TELEVISION NEWS BROADCASTING AND JOURNALISM IN TURKEY The Impact of Political, Economic and Socio-Cultural Change in the 1990s Melek ATABEY Submitted in Accordance with the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of London Department of Culture, Communication and Societies Institute of Education University of London July 1998 2 ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate current issues in Turkish journalism with specific reference to television news broadcasting. It does so by combining two main theoretical approaches to the study of news production: the political economy perspective and the culturalist view, both of which are critically explored as part of the research. In collecting data, various methods were employed; interviews with journalists, and quantitative and qualitative analysis of news programmes. The study consists of two main parts. At the macro level, a review of recent changes in broadcast media around the world, and the main theoretical perspectives on news and journalism with regard to Turkish television news are followed by the examination of the historical development of journalism, and its present socio-economic and professional context in Turkey. At the micro level, the study focuses on television news. A general overview of news broadcasting in Turkey is provided to explore the significance of television news for the Turkish public. The remaining chapters of the study analyse coverage of domestic political and economic events, and foreign news stories on six main television stations, with regard to their quantitative and qualitative content. The findings indicated that the commercial, institutional, and ideological stance of television channels influenced the content of news stories. Moreover, the analysis of popular news items in news programmes, and the case studies of reality based programmes indicated a noticeable tendency for the tabloidisation and commercialisation of broadcast journalism. Therefore, the study concludes that the privatisation of the broadcast media did little to encourage or provide either diversity or qualitative improvement in the provision of news. This, it is argued, was directly related, at the structural and professional levels, to the general political and economic situation of the country, as well as the legal pressures on news media, and the failure of journalists to organise in order to establish agreed standards for broadcast journalism, and claim broader freedom from the political establishment. The thesis concludes with a critical appraisal of the relationship between the macro and micro level factors influencing journalism and news production in Turkey. These are discussed in the light of the main theoretical approaches and research findings of the present study. 3 To Rusen, Murat, Sinan Atabey and the loving memories ofSami Atabey and Dorothy Holmes 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have played a supportive role in the creation of this thesis. Above all, I am grateful to my supervisor, Robert Ferguson, for his help, advice and intellectual feedback throughout the project. He has read and commented on several drafts and maintained a thorough and critical approach to my work with a helpful and supportive attitude. I owe special thanks to Dr. David Buckingham whose critical comments and suggestions have been useful and constructive. I am also indebted to the Turkish Ministry of Education which provided the financial support to carry out this research. Thanks also to the libraries of the Institute of Education, Goldsmiths College, SOAS and LSE which provided me with a rich source of literature. Special thanks to my friends; Dr. Dilruba Catalbas, Rachel Macfadyen, Ozlem Sandik9i, Dr. Hossain Aikhami, Fatemeh Sajjadi, Alison Peel, Sonia Serra, and Aristotelis Nikolaidis for their continuous intellectual contribution and emotional support which kept me in touch with reality during the hard times. Also thanks to Hasan Abay, Ayten Ecin, Funda Dokuyucu, Ali and Nursel Cinardali and Ziihtii lIter for their help in recording news programmes and collecting data in Turkey. I am thankful to all correspondents from private televisions and TRT who helped me enormously during my fieldwork in these organisations. Thanks to Bruce and June Mackenzie for providing me with a quiet and caring home where most of the writing up of my thesis took place. My special gratitude to two very special persons, my father, Sami Atabey and a dear friend, Mrs. Dorothy Holmes both of whom, I am sure, would have been thrilled to see the completion of this thesis. Finally, I wish to thank my entire family for always being there for me and my newly born twin nieces, Meltem and Deniz for bringing joy to my life. I, alone, take full responsibility for this work. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Table of Contents 5 List of Tables 10 Introduction 11 Chapter 1: Study of Television News and Journalism 17 1.1. Changing Broadcasting Environment and Television Journalism 18 1.1.1. The Commercialisation of Television News 20 1.1.2. The Globalisation of Television News 24 1.1.3. The Democratisation of Public Sphere and Television 28 Journalism 1.2. The Context and Theoretical Framework of the Study 31 1.2.1. The Theoretical Framework of the Study 33 1.3. The Methodological Dimensions of the Research 48 1.3.1 Content Analysis 50 1.3.1.1. Sampling 52 1.3.1.2. Quantitative Analysis of News 52 1.3.1.3. Qualitative Analysis of News 53 1.3.2. Interviews 54 1.4. Conclusion 54 6 Chapter 2: Socio-Economic Context of News Production in Turkey 56 2.1. The Evolution of Journalism and Newspapers 56 2.2. Development of Broadcast Media 63 2.3. Socio-Political Context of the 1980s and Turkish Media 68 2.4. Political Tendencies and Turkish Media 75 2.5. Commercialisation, Privatisation, Concentration 80 2.6. Conclusion 87 Chapter 3: Legal, Organisational and Professional Context 89 3.1. Legal Framework of Journalism and News Media 90 3.1.1. Press Freedom 90 3.1.2. Broadcasting Freedom 97 3.2. Organisational Pressures 104 3.2.1.Autonomy, Impartiality and TRT's Journalists 104 3.2.2.Control, Self-Censorship, and Journalists in Private 106 Channels 3.3. Professional Factors 108 3.3.1. Trade Unions 108 3.3.2. Professional Associations and Press Council 111 3.3.3. Press Card 112 3.3.4. Ethical Issues 113 3.4. Education and Training of Journalists 115 3.4.1. Education and Training of Turkish Journalists 118 3.5. Conclusion 121 7 Chapter 4: The Structure of Television News Broadcasting 123 4.1. Television as a Source ofInfonnation in Turkey 124 4.2. Explosion in Television News 127 4.3. Evening News Programmes 129 4.4. Advertisements and Commercialisation of Television News 129 4.5. Anchorpersons 130 4.6. Constructing the Image: Sets 132 4.7. Content Anlaysis of News Programmes 133 4.7.1.Total Duration and Number of News Items 136 4.7.2. Headlines 136 4.7.3. Style and Narrative 137 4.7.4. Technical Structure 137 4.8. Conclusion 139 8 Chapter 5: Reporting Political and Economic Issues 141 5.1. Politics and Television News 143 5.2. General Features of Domestic Political and Economic News 146 5.3. Case Studies 153 5.3.1. Relations Between European Union and Turkey 153 5.3.2. European Customs Union on Television News 156 5.3.2.1. Pros and Cons of the European Customs 157 Union 5.3.2.2. Human Rights, Economy and Diplomacy 165 5.3.3. Demonstrations of Civil Servants 173 5.3.3.1. Background News: Coverage ofthe 174 Weekday Demonstrations 5.3.3.2. The Demonstration on 17 December 1994 177 5.4. Conclusion 182 Chapter 6: Reporting Foreign News 186 6.1. Reporting from International Sources 188 6.2. Drawing the News Geography 192 6.3. Case Studies 195 6.3.1. News Breaks Out in Chechnya 197 6.3.1.1. Main Opinions and Perspectives on 198 Chechnian Conflict 6.3.1.2. Introducing and Commenting on the Crisis 200 6.3.1.3. Main Events and the Credibility of 203 Information 6.3.1.4. Representing the Consequences and 206 Reactions 6.3.2. News Coverage of Bosnian War 207 6.3.2.1. News from the Bosnian Front 210 6.3.2.2. Aid Appeals for Bosnia 220 6.3.2.3. Bosnian War and Turkish Politics 225 6.4. Conclusion 227 9 Chapter 7: Reporting Popular News and Reality Television 230 7.1. Tabloid Journalism: An Overview 232 7.2. Popular News on Turkish Television 236 7.2.1. Analysis of News Programmes 237 7.2.2. Human Interest Stories 239 7.2.3. Covering Crime News 248 7.2.4. Tragedy and Accidents 252 7.2.5. Advertisement or News? 258 7.3. Reality-Based Programming 259 7.3.1. Reality Programmes on Turkish Television 262 7.3 .. 2. Case Studies 264 7.3.2.1. S6z Fato'da 264 (Fato's Turn to Speak, Kanal D, 28.8.1995) 7.3.2.2.Sicagi Sicagina 269 (Hot on the Spot, Show TV, 30.8.1995) 7.3.2.3. Polis Imdat 272 (Police Help, ATV, 6.9.1995) 7.4. 'Paparazzi' Programmes and Sports Magazines 274 7.5.Conclusion 274 Conclusion 276 Appendix 282 Bibliography 287 10 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: The Conglomeration of the Turkish Media 85 Table 4.1: Circulation of Major National Dailies (December 1994) 125 Table 4.2: Number and Duration of Newscasts on 12 December,1994 127 Table 4.3: Average Length and Percentage of Commercial Breaks 130 in News Programmes Table 4.4: Duration and Number of News Items 135 Table 4.5: News Stories by Technical Inputs 138 Table 5.1: General Election Results in 1991 and 1995 145 Table 5.2: Percentage of News Stories by Topics 147 Table 5.3: Percentage of Main Actors in Domestic News Stories 149 Table 5.4: Percentage of the Government and the Opposition Stories 150 Table 6.1: Percentage of Domestic and Foreign News Stories 192 Table 6.2: Percentage of Foreign News Stories by Location 194 Table 7.1: Percentage of Popular News Stories 238 Table 7.2: Percentage of Popular Main Actors in News Programmes 238 11 INTRODUCTION The main function of journalism is to provide continuous, and reliable information for people to make sense of their own environment and the world, and subsequently form their evaluations of political and social structures, policies, actors and events.