LOOKING AT THE CENSORED MIRROR: PERCEIVED SUPPLY OF DEMOCRACY IN RESTRCITED INFORMATION ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

Despite the increasingly heavy regulations around the world, internet has remained relatively freer than traditional media in many places. This has resulted in internet to be considered as an alternative in cases of media freedom violations, and attracted scholarly attention on citizens’ democratic experience with media censorship while accessing “new” and supposedly liberating alternatives. In this context, this manuscript explores how perceived media censorship influences citizen assessments about democracy in the presence of online alternatives. By statistically analyzing the third wave of the Arab Barometer, this research provides empirical evidence particularly for citizens conceptualizing democracy primarily based on the freedom to criticize. Findings from a sample of ten countries from the region demonstrate that perceived censorship leads to more negative assessments of democratic supply via political internet use. Namely, while a positive relationship was observed between perceived censorship in the traditional media and using the internet for seeking political news and information, a negative relationship was found between political internet use and the perceived supply of democracy.

Keywords

• Media freedom
• Internet use
• political communication
• democracy attitudes
• public opinion
• quantitative research methods

SANSÜRLÜ AYNAYA BAKIŞ: KISITLI BİLGİ ORTAMLARINDA ALGILANAN DEMOKRASİ ARZI

Abstract

Dünya çapında giderek daha ağır düzenlemelere maruz bırakılan internet, birçok yerde geleneksel medyaya göre nispeten daha özgürdür. Bu durum, internet ortamının medya özgürlüğü ihlallerinde kitle iletişimine alternatif olarak kabul edilmesine yol açmış ve akademik ilgiyi bir taraftan sıradan vatandaşların medya sansürü deneyimine, diğer taraftan da “yeni” ve özgürleştirici olduğu iddia edilen alternatiflere erişime çekmiştir. Bu bağlamda mevcut çalışma medya tüketiminde çevrimiçi alternatiflerin varlığında algılanan medya kısıtlamalarının vatandaşların demokrasiyle ilgili değerlendirmelerini nasıl etkilediğini Arap Barometresinin üçüncü dalgası üzerinden araştırmaktadır. Bölgeden on farklı ülkeyi kapsayan bir örneklem üzerinde yapılan istatistiksel analizler demokrasiyi eleştirme özgürlüğüne dayalı olarak kavramsallaştıran bireylerle sınırlandırılmış olup sansür algısının siyasi haber ve bilgi arayışında internet kullanımı yoluyla dolaylı olarak demokratik arzla ilgili daha olumsuz değerlendirmelere yol açtığını ortaya koymuştur. Bulgular geleneksel medyadaki sansür algısı ile internet üzerinden siyasi haber ve bilgi arayışı arasında pozitif bir ilişkiyi ortaya çıkarırken, internet kullanımı ile demokratik arz arasında negatif bir ilişki olduğunu göstermiştir.

Keywords

• Medya özgürlüğü
• internet kullanımı
• siyasi iletişim
• demokratik tutumlar
• kamuoyu
• nicel araştırma yöntemleri

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