2017 Kyrgyz Presidential Elections in Domestic Media: An Analysis of the Contents of 24.kg

Abstract

The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has, for long, been regarded as an ‘island of democracy’. Compared to neighbouring countries, civil society and media are more plural here and has relatively more freedom. It is also the only country from the region to be considered ‘partly free’ by the Freedom House. In October 2017, Kyrgyz Republic witnessed an unprecedented Presidential election for a peaceful transition. Elections can be a good time to not only assess the democratic institutions of any country but also study the status and functions of the media. This paper analyzes the coverage of the 2017 presidential elections of Kyrgyzstan in a domestic news agency (24.kg) to empirically and qualitatively understand the state of the mediascape there. Using critical discourse analysis, I studied the election coverage to understand the larger context of news, and the role media played in the public sphere of the Kyrgyz Republic and concluded that media industry suffered from economic dependence as well as the lack of culture of plural polity. Even private media helped in agenda-setting through ‘dominant reading’ of texts. Paid news was rampant while, at the same time, they self-censored themselves, consciously avoiding critical articles or any investigative pieces, particularly against the government for fear of attracting title suits and persecutions, and more importantly losing sponsors.

Keywords

• Central Asia
• Kyrgyzstan
• Election
• Media
• 24.kg
• Critical Discourse

2017 Kyrgyz Presidential Elections in Domestic Media: An Analysis of the Contents of 24.kg

Abstract

Orta Asya cumhuriyetlerinden Kırgızistan uzun zamandır "demokrasi adası" olarak görülmektedir. Komşu ülkelere kıyasla, burada sivil toplum ve medya daha çoğulcudur ve nispeten daha fazla özgürlüğe sahiptir. Freedom House tarafından "kısmen özgür" olarak değerlendirilen bölgedeki tek ülkedir. Ekim 2017'de Kırgız Cumhuriyeti, barışçıl bir geçiş için benzeri görülmemiş bir Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimine tanık oldu. Seçimler, herhangi bir ülkenin demokratik kurumlarını değerlendirmek için iyi bir zaman olabileceği gibi, medyanın durumu ve işlevlerini incelemek için de fırsat sağlar. Bu makale, Kırgızistan'daki 2017 Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimlerinin yerel bir haber ajansında (24.kg) nasıl ele alındığını analiz ederek, medyanın oradaki durumunu ampirik ve niteliksel olarak anlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Eleştirel söylem analizi kullanarak, seçim haberlerini inceleyerek, haberlerin genel bağlamını ve medyanın Kırgız Cumhuriyeti'nin kamusal alanındaki rolünü anlamaya çalıştım ve medya sektörünün ekonomik bağımlılıktan ve çoğulcu politika kültürünün eksikliğinden muzdarip olduğu sonucuna vardım. Özel medya bile metinlerin "egemen okuması" yoluyla gündem belirlemeye yardımcı oldu. Ücretli haberler yaygındı ve aynı zamanda, özellikle hükümete karşı herhangi bir eleştirel makaleyi veya araştırmacı yazıyı bilinçli olarak kaçınarak, dava açma ve zulüm korkusu ve daha da önemlisi sponsor kaybetme endişesiyle kendilerini sansürlediler.

Keywords

• Orta Asya
• Kırgızistan
• medya
• seçim
• 24.kg
• söylem analizi

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