Media and the Representation of the European Union: An Analysis of Press Coverage of Turkey's European Union Candidacy

Year 2001, Volume: 4(2) Issue: 8, 121 - 146, 07.07.2001

Mine Gencel Bek

Abstract

This article aims to analyse how the mainstream Turkish press constructed European identity and the meaning of being apart of Europe in the news during the period in which
Turkey's candidacy was accepted at the EU Helsinki Summit in December 1999. The article begins by summarising the history of Turkey-EU relations, The findings of a qualitative
analysis of the news in three dailies is then discussed by focusing on the actors, their dispositions, the themes-which are discussed under the headings: the meaning of Europe
and the EU, expectations from the EU; economic elements, conditions of and obstacles to the EU; political elements-and the ways these themes are expressed. Finally, the article argues that the newspapers analysed make up sensationalist news when rendering the EU newsworthy. Furthermore, headlines of the stories analysed and some extracts from these
stories are provided in the article.

Keywords

mainstream Turkish press, European identity, Turkey

Media and the Representation of the European Union An Analysis of Press Coverage of Turk:ey's European Union Candidacy

Abstract

This article aims to analyse how the mainstream Turkish press constructed European identity and the meaning of being apart of Europe in the news during the period in which
Turkey's candidacy was accepted at the EU Helsinki Summit in December 1999. The article begins by summarising the history of Turkey-EU relations, The findings of a qualitative
analysis of the news in three dailies is then discussed by focusing on the actors, their dispositions, the themes-which are discussed under the headings: the meaning of Europe
and the EU, expectations from the EU; economic elements, conditions of and obstacles to the EU; political elements-and the ways these themes are expressed. Finally, the article argues that the newspapers analysed make up sensationalist news when rendering the EU newsworthy. Furthermore, headlines of the stories analysed and some extracts from these
stories are provided in the article.

References

• Ahmad, Feroz (1981). "The Political Economy of Kemalism." In Atatürk, Founder of Modern State. A. Kazancıgil and E. Özbudun (eds.). London: C. Hurst & Co. Unesco. 145-155.
• Akural, Sabri (1984), "Kemalist Views on Social Change." In Alatilrk and the Modernization of Turkey. J. M. Landau (ed.). Leiden. 125-152.
• Alankuş-Kural, Sevda (1995). "Türkiye'de Medya, Hegemonya ve Ötekinin Temsili." Toplum ve Bilim 67:76-111.
• Balkır, Canan and Williams, Alan M. (1993). Turkey and Europe. London: Pinter. Bell, Allan (1994). "Telling Stories." In Media Texts: Authors and Readers. David Graddol, Oliver Boyd Barrett (eds.). Clevedon, Philadelphia: The Open University, 100-118
• Bell, Allan and Garrett, Peter (1998). Approaches to Media Discourse. Oxford, Massachusets: Blackwell.
• Berberoğlu, Berch (1981). "Turkey: The Crisis of the Neo-Colonial System." Race& Class 22 (3): 277-291.
• Billig, Michael (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.
• Boorstin, Daniel J. (1992). The Image, A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America. New York: Vintage Books.
• Burgoyne, Carole B. and Routh, Davis A. (1999). "National Identity, European Identity and the Euro." In National Identity. Keith Cameron (ed.). Exeter. Intellect Books. 107-124.
• Cremasco, Maurizio (1990). "The Strategic Importance of Relations Between Turkey and the European Community." In Turkey and the European Community. A. Evin and G. Denton (eds.). Opladen: Leske Budrich. 117-140.