The Role of Social Media in Journalism: An Examination on Turkish News Organizations

Abstract

This study, seeks to understand the role of social media in journalistic routines by examining Turkish news organizations, and asks: How do Turkish news organizations use social media as a newsgathering tool? Do they consider social media as a trusted source? Which social media platforms are being used most by news organisations? Do they integrate user-generated content into their news? How do they struggle with fake news? How do they evaluate the future of journalism? To answer these questions, we conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with media professionals working for newspapers, television, news agencies and the web. We carried out the interviews in Istanbul and Ankara between February and March 2017. The total length of all interviews is more than 600 minutes. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed conducting a qualitative content analysis. The current findings illustrate that the impact of social media on journalistic routines is limited. It can be contended that professional journalistic norm and practices continue their importance in Turkish news organizations.

Keywords

• Social media,Journalism,User-generated content,Verification,News sources

Sosyal Medyanın Gazetecilikteki Rolü: Türkiye’deki Haber Kuruluşları Üzerine Bir İnceleme

Abstract

Bu çalışma, sosyal medyanın gündelik haber rutinlerindeki rolünü, Türkiye’deki haber kuruluşlarında gerçekleştirilen uygulamaları inceleyerek anlamayı-anlamlandırmayı hedeflemektedir. Çalışmanın bu amaçla yanıtını aradığı sorulardan bazıları şunlardır: Haberciler, gündelik haber rutinlerinde, sosyal ağ sitelerinden nasıl yaralanmaktadırlar? Bunları, güvenilir birer kaynak olarak görmekte midirler? Habercilik söz konusu olduğunda, en çok hangi platformlar öne çıkmaktadır? Sıradan kullanıcıların ürettikleri içerikler, habercilik açısından ne anlama gelmektedir? Haber kuruluşları, gerçek dışı haberlerle nasıl mücadele etmektedirler? Gazeteciliğin gelecekte alacağı biçim ne olacaktır? Bu ve benzeri sorulara yanıt oluşturmak üzere on iki medya profesyoneliyle yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir. Görüşmeler 2017 yılının Şubat ve Mart aylarında Ankara ve İstanbul’da yapılmıştır. Toplam uzunluğu 600 dakikayı aşan görüşmeler, kayıt altına alınmış ve deşifre edilerek niteliksel içerik analizi yöntemiyle çözümlenmiştir. Bulgular, ‘şimdilik kaydıyla’, sosyal medyanın profesyonel gazetecilik üzerindeki etkisinin sınırlı olduğunu; buna karşın işi habercilik yapmak olan kuruluşlar açısından profesyonel gazeteciliğin geleneksel norm ve pratiklerinin önemini koruduğunu göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Sosyal medya,Gazetecilik,Kullanıcı içerikleri,Doğrulama,Haber kaynakları

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