A Comparative Discourse Analysis of TRT World and Al Jazeera News Channels on the News Reports of the Syrian War

Abstract

In the last two decades, we have witnessed the rising of new international news networks such as Al Jazeera, Russian Today, and TRT World in order to challenge the main media corporations of the Western world like, CNN, BBC, and MSNBC, etc. particularly on the news regarding the Middle East. While the results of the Gulf War in 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 have made checks and balances on Western news associations necessary, Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster, emerged as a remarkable voice by taking the role of a contra-flow news agency, and succeeded in producing different and original opinions within its region in the international news arena. In this context, this study selected a critical approach to TRT World, one of the recent news players in the region of the Middle East, in order to identify if it is achievable for the channel to bring a unique perspective on the news regarding the Middle East, as Al Jazeera has accomplished. A critical discourse analysis was conducted by analyzing the news reports of TRT World and Al Jazeera’s stories regarding the Syrian Civil War. However, the study results suggest that TRT World misses the claim of ‘‘new and accurate perspectives ‘to the international arena due to political factors.

Keywords

• TRT World,Al Jazeera,discourse analysis,global media,Syrian war

TRT World ve El Cezire Haber Kanallarının Suriye Savaşı ile İlgili Haberlerinin Karşılaştırmalı Söylem Analizi

Abstract

Son yirmi yıllık dönemde, özellikle Orta Doğu ile ilgili haberler dikkate alındığında, CNN, BBC veya MSNBC gibi Batı dünyasının ana medya kurumlarına karşı, El Cezire, Russian Today ve TRT World gibi yeni uluslararası haber kanallarının doğuşuna şahit olduk. Gerek 1990 yılında yaşanan körfez savaşının sonuçları, gerekse de 2003 yılında gerçekleşen Irak’ın işgali, bir anlamda Batı’nın haber kanallarının güvenilirliği konusunda denetim ve denge faktörlerinin incelenmesi durumunu zorunluluk haline getirirken, özellikle Katar merkezli El Cezire kanalı, uluslararası medya arenasında, doğduğu coğrafyaya ait haberlerde yeni ve ters yönde akım oluşturarak dikkate değer bir ses olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Çalışmamız, bu bağlamda, Orta Doğu coğrafyasında hızlı bir şekilde öne çıkan haber kanalı olan TRT World’e eleştirel bir perspektif ile yaklaşarak, kanalın El Cezire örneğinde olduğu gibi, Orta Doğu ile ilgili haberlerde özgün bir yaklaşım getirmesinin mümkün olup olmadığı konusuna eğilmektedir. TRT World ve El Cezire kanallarının Suriye savaşı ile alakalı haberleri üzerine kıyaslamalı eleştirel bir söylem analizi gerçekleştirilmiş olup, bununla birlikte, araştırma sonuçlarımız TRT World’ün politik etmenler nedeniyle, uluslararası arenaya özgün ve doğru yaklaşımlar getirme iddiasını kaçırdığını ileri sürmektedir.

Keywords

• TRT World,El Cezire,söylem analizi,global medya,Suriye savaşı

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