YUMUŞAK GÜÇ ARACI OLARAK SINOVAC AŞISININ TÜRK BASININDA TEMSİLİ ÜZERİNE BİR TEMATİK ANALİZ

This study examines the representation of the Chinese Sinovac (CoronaVac) COVID-19 vaccine in the Turkish press and explores its use in the context of China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines have become not only tools of biomedical intervention but also instruments of public diplomacy, political representations and symbolic power. In this context, the media has treated the vaccine not only as a medical measure, but also as a site of ideological debate and a tool of social manipulation. The aim of this study is to determine how Sinovac vaccines are used in the context of China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies, to reveal the reflections of these strategies of China in the Turkish press, and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies. The main question of the research is around which themes the news discourses on the Sinovac vaccine in the Turkish press are shaped and how these discourses are related to China's soft power strategies. The qualitative research method was adopted in the study and the analysis process was carried out within the framework of the thematic analysis technique. The data set consists of a total of 3738 news articles published between January 13, 2021 and January 13, 2022. The data were obtained from seven national newspapers with different ideological stripes; the content was coded and systematically analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software. Following the coding process, the analyzed news items were grouped under five main themes: vaccine procurement and distribution, scientific evaluations and safety, privileged practices and political criticism, media representation and public trust, and social impacts of the pandemic. The findings revealed that media outlets framed the same issue in different ways depending on their ideological orientations and that public attitudes towards vaccination were shaped through these representations.

This study examines the representation of the Chinese Sinovac (CoronaVac) COVID-19 vaccine in the Turkish press and explores its use in the context of China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines have become not only tools of biomedical intervention but also instruments of public diplomacy, political representations and symbolic power. In this context, the media has treated the vaccine not only as a medical measure, but also as a site of ideological debate and a tool of social manipulation. The aim of this study is to determine how Sinovac vaccines are used in the context of China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies, to reveal the reflections of these strategies of China in the Turkish press, and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on China's health diplomacy and soft power strategies. The main question of the research is around which themes the news discourses on the Sinovac vaccine in the Turkish press are shaped and how these discourses are related to China's soft power strategies. The qualitative research method was adopted in the study and the analysis process was carried out within the framework of the thematic analysis technique. The data set consists of a total of 3738 news articles published between January 13, 2021 and January 13, 2022. The data were obtained from seven national newspapers with different ideological stripes; the content was coded and systematically analyzed using MAXQDA 2022 software. Following the coding process, the analyzed news items were grouped under five main themes: vaccine procurement and distribution, scientific evaluations and safety, privileged practices and political criticism, media representation and public trust, and social impacts of the pandemic. The findings revealed that media outlets framed the same issue in different ways depending on their ideological orientations and that public attitudes towards vaccination were shaped through these representations.