Abstract
This study aims to map the literature of new media studies in Turkey, which dates back to thirty years. In this context, it examines the refereed academic journals of the Communication Faculties of Istanbul University, Marmara University and Ankara University, which are among the oldest in Turkey. The articles published in these journals have been analyzed in the light of three indispensable criteria for any academic research, namely the key concepts, theoretical background and method. According to
the findings, media studies in Turkey can be divided into three phases as the early period, the developmental period and the late period, all of which exhibit significant similarities among themselves. During the early period when the internet had just appeared in Turkey, only a few key concepts were formulated without any recourse to theory or method. Although there was a partial increase in the number of key concepts in the second ten-year period, termed as the developmental period, the number of original research articles was still quite low. Almost all studies were based on the content analysis method. At the same time, an increase was observed in the number of various theoretical discussions borrowed from western literature. The late period was marked as the most fertile period due to the flourishing of new media studies in terms of both quantity and diversity of subjects. The discussion of concepts and the theoretical background in this stage stood out as more varied compared to previous periods. At the same time, the methodological diversity did not develop to the same extent. In general, the journals from all periods exhibited a critical approach. However, there was a lack of original concepts, theories and methods deriving from Turkey's particular experience. In all examined categories, one can observe the dominance of a research character borrowed from different disciplines such as sociology, political science and psychology originating from the United States and especially Continental Europe.