Gizem Melek | Queen's University Belfast (original) (raw)

Papers by Gizem Melek

Sustainability and Climate Change, 2024

Emotions play a significant role in motivating climate action, but the nature and the direction o... more Emotions play a significant role in motivating climate action, but the nature and the direction of the relationship between emotions and attitudes toward climate policy are relatively understudied. We conducted a survey experiment (United Kingdom, n = 1,330) in which we experimentally manipulated incidental emotions to consider the effects of fear, anger, and sadness on support for different climate policies. In terms of informative policies, the results show that inducing sadness significantly increases support for early warning systems for disaster predictions but has no notable effect on providing health risk information concerning climate change. Regarding protective policies, inducing fear positively and significantly influences support for banning petrol cars, while an immediate ban on coal plants shows no statistically significant effect. Interestingly, contrary to the expectations and findings in the literature, we found the negative effect of anger treatment on the support for punitive measures oriented toward high-electricity-consuming households and no effect on punitive measures against businesses and frequent flyers. Our findings highlight the potent influence of emotions in motivating support for specific climate policies, revealing their intricate nature. At times, certain emotions such as anger can even cause reduced support for climate policies.

Kültür ve İletişim, 2024

This study examines the experiences of women journalists working within the highly patriarchal me... more This study examines the experiences of women journalists working within the highly patriarchal media industry in Türkiye, which is facing an increase in femicide and gender-based violence. Through in-depth interviews with 12 women journalists working in the industry, this study aims to give voice to women journalists who are subject to discrimination and harassment in newsrooms across Türkiye. The interviews were conducted with journalists aged between 24 and 52, all of whom are based in the three largest cities İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir. In addition, the journalists are currently working in some of the highly popular media outlets. The findings of the thematic analysis indicate that women journalists encounter a range of challenges within the media industry. These challenges include but are not limited to sexual harassment, glass ceiling, discrimination and mobbing, wage inequality, insufficiency of adequate legal rights, fighting against masculine language in the newsroom, and peer bullying. The results reveal that these issues persist across a variety of categories, highlighting the prevalence of gender discrimination within the media industry. In summary, the study demonstrates that women journalists face a complex array of challenges that require concerted efforts to address and overcome.

Y.U. UNESCO Chair on International Migration Policy Brief Series, 2024

This policy brief examines the interrelation between media and public network agendas concerning ... more This policy brief examines the interrelation between media and public network agendas concerning Syrian refugees in Türkiye. It serves as an illustrative case study within the framework of a polarized media system existing in the context of a competitive authoritarian regime, aiming to elucidate the cognitive effects of media on an international scale. Through a comprehensive analysis of extensive media and nationally representative mind-mapping survey data, it is discerned that the transfer of media's network agenda is notably significant solely among individuals aligned with the pro-government faction. Conversely, no discernible impact is observed on individuals supporting the opposition, irrespective of their political orientations and the media outlets from which they receive information. The study's outcomes hold substantial implications, signaling potential constraints on the applicability of the Network Agenda Setting (NAS) model in competitive or semi-authoritarian regimes. Within such contexts, individuals affiliated with the opposition may exhibit a diminished susceptibility to influence from mainstream media, thereby challenging the conventional efficacy of the NAS model, as consistently observed in Western democracies.

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2024

The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the media and the public network ... more The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the media and the public network agendas concerning Syrian refugees in Türkiye, as an exemplar of a polarized media system within the context of a competitive authoritarian regime to gain insight into the cognitive effects of media in such a context internationally. Large-scale media and nationally representative mind-mapping survey data analysis show that the media’s network agenda is only significantly transferred to the pro-government individuals, while no significant effect was found on pro-opposition individuals from any media outlet regardless of their political stances. Implications are discussed.

Visual Communication Quarterly, 2023

This study explores how opposition political candidates strategically use Instagram images for th... more This study explores how opposition political candidates strategically use Instagram images for their election campaigns in a competitive authoritarian regime. The article focuses on Turkey’s 2019 mayoral elections and reports findings from 452 Instagram posts by the winning candidates in the three biggest cities (İzmir, Ankara, and İstanbul), all of whom are from the opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). The results from a quantitative content analysis show that all elected mayors mainly applied their traditional media strategies directly to Instagram as part of broadcasting purposes. They rarely extended their campaigning to other media platforms as part of a hybrid campaign strategy. Implications of the role of Instagram in challenging incumbent parties in competitive authoritarian regimes are discussed.

Visual Studies, 2023

Framing bias was suggested in earlier research and media outlets have been accused of partisan te... more Framing bias was suggested in earlier research and media outlets have been accused of partisan tendencies in accordance with the political leanings they are supposedly associated with in popular imagination. The 2008 election cycle presented compelling evidence for the influence wielded by social media platforms in political communication, thereby establishing them as critical tools for candidates’ electoral campaigns. The consequential role played by these digital platforms in electioneering has been increasingly recognized in the years since, cementing their centrality to contemporary political journalism. Instagram is one such medium for distributing news. The visual platform provides news media outlets with the ability to distribute their content produced in non-native formats not original to the platform. This predominant visual approach is ideal for political news coverage and the visual framing of the presidential candidates by the media. This study looks for differences in visual framing of 2020 US presidential candidates, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump, through the analysis of pictures posted on the Instagram accounts of the Associated Press, CNN, and Fox News to identify any partisan tendencies in their choices of images. No evidence was found of any substantial partisan tendencies in terms of frame choices in all three mainstream news outlets. Nevertheless, the findings from a two-sample test of proportions indicate that Fox News demonstrated a statistically significant bias towards Trump in terms of the number of frames allocated to him in comparison to Biden during their coverage. Implications of the findings for visual political communication are discussed.

Visual Communication, 2024

This study aims to explore how political leaders used Instagram to execute self-presentation stra... more This study aims to explore how political leaders used Instagram to execute self-presentation strategies in mayoral elections, including the dominant use of personalized tactics. The article reports findings of a visual framing analysis of 2,776 images featuring 2019 Istanbul mayoral election candidates Ekrem İmamoğlu (the Republican People’s Party, CHP) and Binali Yıldırım (the Justice and Development Party, AKP). The case is unusual because the initial election, which had resulted in İmamoğlu’s victory, was cancelled and a re-run was subsequently held. After many events, İmamoğlu succeeded again, becoming the first opposition politician to take control of Istanbul from the ruling AKP. In this study, we adapt Grabe and Bucy’s (2009) quantitative visual framing analysis to examine Instagram posts, from candidacy announcements until the election re-run. The results show that both candidates used the Ideal Candidate frame, with occasional increases in the frequency of the application of the Populist Campaigner frame. Self-frames in different time periods during this election are discussed, as well the frames that voters engaged with most frequently.

Communications, 2022

We conducted an experiment to test whether altering the saliency of information provided by exper... more We conducted an experiment to test whether altering the saliency of information provided by experts in fictitious news stories on climate change triggered different emotions among readers. Based on appraisal theories of emotions in the psychology literature, we hypothesized that 1) news stories that presented climate change related threats as diffuse and uncertain would elicit greater levels of anxiety, while 2) stories that provided a specific target to blame would induce greater anger, and 3) those that underlined the potential of technology and human efforts to solve climate change related issues would elicit greater levels of hope. We found that while all news stories concerning climate change elicited high levels of anxiety, there were statistically significant differences between the emotions expressed by participations in the expected directions. We discuss the potential implications of these findings for climate change communication and for public opinion on climate change.

Visual Studies, 2023

This study aims to shed light on the visual aspect of digital storytelling during elections and i... more This study aims to shed light on the visual aspect of digital storytelling during elections and its effects on a candidate’s overall campaign narrative. Focusing on Turkey’s 2019 mayoral elections, the study examines how Ekrem İmamoğlu from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who was elected mayor of Istanbul used visual imagery in terms of political storytelling on Instagram.The study utilises an image type analysis and reports findings from 261 Instagram posts shared on İmamoğlu’s verified Instagram account during the last month of the initial election on 31 March 2019 (n = 167) and the rerun election on 23 June 2019 (n = 94). This approach reveals that İmamoğlu mostly adopted campaign works, contact with public, and positioning image types. Utilising these image types, he mainly pursued unifying and personal/biographical political storytelling narratives through visuals on Instagram. During the re-election period, he also pursued an incumbent strategy in addition to existing storytelling strategies.

Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2021

Bu çalışmanın amacı 2020 ABD başkanlık seçimi sırasında adayların Instagramı nasıl bir stratejiyl... more Bu çalışmanın amacı 2020 ABD başkanlık seçimi sırasında adayların Instagramı nasıl bir stratejiyle kullanarak seçim kampanyası aracına dönüştürdüklerini irdelemektir. Bu doğrultuda adayların kampanya sürecinin son bir ayını kapsayan paylaşımları odağa alınmıştır. Donald Trump'tan 92, Joe Biden'dan ise 190 olmak üzere toplam 282 görsele Russmann ve Svensson (2016)'ın Instagram'a özel tasarladıkları kodlama cetveli kullanılarak nicel içerik analizi yapılmıştır. Analizde adayların Instagram stratejileri Russmann ve Svensson (2016)'ın kodlama cetvelindeki takip eden kategorilere göre ortaya çıkarılmıştır: (1) kampanya mesajlarını yayınlamak, (2) destekçileri harekete geçirmek (mobilizasyon), (3) adayın imajını yönetmek ve (4) diğer kampanya materyallerini güçlendirmek ve tamamlamak (melez kampanya). Tanımlayıcı analiz sonuçlarına göre adaylar Instagram'ı en çok mobilizasyon amacıyla kullanırken, yayın yapma stratejisi her iki aday için de takip eden ikinci en yüksek kategori olmuştur. Adaylar imaj yönetimi açısından sadece profesyonel ortamlarda görüntülenmeyi ve hiçbir zaman özel/aile ortamında resmedilmemeyi tercih etmişlerdir. Bununla birlikte imaj yönetiminin ünlüler alt kategorisi her iki adayda da düşük oranda olmakla birlikte tespit edilmiştir. Melez kullanımı ise ne Biden ne de Trump tercih etmiştir.
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The purpose of this study is to examine how political candidates use Instagram as a strategic tool during the 2020 US Presidential elections. The article focuses on 282 Instagram posts; 92 from Donald Trump and 190 from Joe Biden during the last month of the election campaign. Drawing on Russmann and Svensson (2016), the study adopts a quantitative content analysis method to determine whether Instagram was used under the following categories: (1) broadcasting campaign messages, (2) mobilizing supporters, (3) managing the candidate’s image, and (4) strengthening and complementing other campaign materials (hybrid campaign). The results show that the candidates mostly used Instagram for mobilization, while the broadcasting strategy was the second-highest category for both candidates. In terms of image management, the candidates preferred to portray themselves only in professional settings and never in a private / family setting. The celebrities subcategory of the image management was only found occasionally for both candidates. Neither Biden nor Trump preferred the use of the hybrid strategy.

İNİF E-Dergi, 2021

Bu makalenin amacı medya etkileri ve siyasal iletişim literatüründe aktif olarak çalışılan alanla... more Bu makalenin amacı medya etkileri ve siyasal iletişim literatüründe aktif olarak çalışılan alanları ve özellikle büyük veri kullanılan yeni araştırma yöntemlerini inceleyerek genel bir değerlendirme yapmaktır. Böylelikle alanla ilgili yenilikleri tespit edip konuyla ilgilenen araştırmacılara ileriye dönük hedef gösterilmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Siyasal iletişim çalışmaları içindeki en güçlü kuramlardan biri olan ve yaklaşık 50 yıldır üzerine yüzlerce makale yazılan gündem belirleme kuramı yıllar içinde çeşitli aşamalardan geçmiştir. Bu aşamaları birinci, ikinci ve üçüncü aşama gündem belirleme, bu aşamaların kamuoyu davranış, fikir ve tutumlarına olan etkileri, gündem belirleme etkisinin nasıl oluştuğu ve etki gücünü tartışan yönelim ihtiyacı kavramı, medya kuruluşlarının birbiri arasında gerçekleşen gündem belirleme etkisi ve son olarak gündem birleştirme kavramı şeklinde özetlemek mümkündür (McCombs vd., 2014). Bu bahsedilen aşamalardan üç tanesi akademik yazında güncel olarak çalışma üretilen alanları kapsamaktadır; (1) üçüncü aşama gündem belirleme olarak bilinen Ağ Gündem Belirleme (Guo ve McCombs, 2011a; 2011b), (2) medya etkilerinin psikolojik boyutu olarak görülen Yönelim İhtiyacı (McCombs ve Weaver, 1973; Weaver, 1977), (3) medyanın sivil gündemleri, kişisel görüş ve deneyimlerle birlikte değerli görülen referans noktalarını birleştirme şeklini ifade eden Gündem Birleştirme (Shaw ve Weaver, 2014; Vargo vd., 2014). Mevcut çalışmada bu üç alanın gelişimi ve özellikle büyük veri örneklemleriyle yapılan yeni çalışmalar değerlendirilip gelecek araştırmalar için yol haritası çizilmesi hedeflenmiştir. Sonuç olarak geçtiğimiz 10 yılda üretilen 16 makalenin 9’unun, diğer bir deyişle yarıdan fazlasının (%56) büyük veri analizine dayalı olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu çalışmaların evrenlerinin, veri toplama araçlarının ve yöntemlerinin ise çoklu olduğu bulgulanmıştır. Dolayısıyla alanın sadece konu bazlı değil, aynı zamanda yöntemsel olarak da hızla gelişip rekabetçi hale geldiği saptanmıştır.
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The goal of this article is to examine the active theoretical arenas of contemporary research and methods in media effects and political communication. Thus, the study aims to identify innovations in the field and provide new directions to the researchers for future studies. As one of the most robust theories in political communication, hundreds of articles were written regarding the agenda-setting theory for nearly 50 years, during which the theory has gone through various stages. These stages are as follows: The first, second and third level of agenda-setting, the effects of these levels on public behaviour, opinion and attitudes, the concept of the need for orientation discussing how the effect of agenda-setting occurs and the power of its influence, the intermedia agenda-setting effect between media organizations and the concept of agenda melding (McCombs et al., 2014). Amongst the aforementioned concepts, the following three stages are the active arenas of contemporary research in agenda-setting: (1) Network Agenda-Setting (NAS), also known as the third-level agenda setting (Guo and McCombs, 2011a; 2011b), (2) Need for Orientation (NFO), the psychological dimension of media effects (McCombs and Weaver, 1973; Weaver, 1977), (3) Agenda melding, which express our way of combining the civic agendas of the media and reference points that we consider valuable with our personal views and experiences (Shaw and Weaver, 2014; Vargo et al., 2014). Accordingly, this study aims to evaluate the historical development and new studies of these three areas especially the ones using big data samples to draw a road map for future research. The results show that 9 out of 16 articles published in the last 10 years, in other words, more than half of the articles (56%), are based on big data analysis. The findings also demonstrate that the sampling, data collection and methods of these studies are multiple. Therefore, the study suggests that the field is not only subject-wise but also methodologically developed and became competitive.

Tripodos, 2020

The aim of this research is to examine the role that data visuals in media coverage play on the r... more The aim of this research is to examine the role that data visuals in media coverage play on the risk perception of the public in times of a pandemic. The article reports findings from an online survey of 191 adults regarding the trajectory of the risk perception model during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. We focused on eight statements clustered into three groups as indicators of the risk perception when the public came across with the data visuals: (1) the level of anxiety, fear and panic arousals, (2) the level of lacking credibility and trust and (3) the level of impression regarding fatality, irreversible effects and catastrophic consequences. For the survey, we selected 24 data visuals, which attracted the most interaction from Facebook and Twitter accounts of the seven most popular news outlets. We asked respondents to score eight items for each 24 data visuals of COVID-19 news reports. The results suggest that the respondents find the data presented in visuals credible and trustworthy and they agree that the visuals depict risk elements in many cases. Implications of the low and high levels of risk perception regarding data visuals on media for the risk communication theory are discussed.

Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 2019

This research examined how news content influences attitudes towards Syrian refugees in Turkey. T... more This research examined how news content influences attitudes towards Syrian refugees in Turkey. The study aimed to understand if the way Syrian refugees are attributed in media-that is, media salience about Syrian refugees that comprise their image-would cause an attitude change in the public. More specifically, we intend to determine whether being exposed to positive news coverage about Syrian refugees would cause an attitude change in the public from negative to positive. For the purpose of the study, we have conducted a quasi-experimental research and used a pretest-posttest design to investigate the second-level agenda-setting effects. Two experiments (a pilot and a main experiment) were conducted during the Spring term of 2017 in Turkey. The participants were selected from a large private university in Turkey for the experiments. The t-test results suggest that positive media emphasis on the images of Syrian refugees had a positive impact on public opinion and caused an overall attitude change in the public.

AJIT-e: Online Academic Journal of Information Technology, 2017

Eğitim teknolojilerinin gelişmesi, İnternet ve mobil cihazların kullanımının okul yaşantısının bi... more Eğitim teknolojilerinin gelişmesi, İnternet ve mobil cihazların kullanımının okul yaşantısının bir parçası haline gelmesi, siber zorbalık vakalarının artmasına sebep olmuştur. Bu çalışmanın amacı Türkiye'de öğrenciler arasında hızla yaygınlaşmaya başlayan siber zorbalık kavramını açıklamak, ülkemizdeki görülme sıklığını incelemek, siber zorbalığa etki eden faktörleri ve siber zorbalığın etkilerini tartışmaktır. Bu amaçla Türkiye'de konuyla ilgili yapılmış çalışmalar Ulakbim-DergiPark veri tabanı üzerinden anahtar kelimeyle taranmış, sonucunda öğrenciler ve siber zorbalık bağlamında gerçekleştirilmiş olan 31 çalışmaya ulaşılmıştır. İncelenen çalışmalar içerik analizi yöntemiyle analiz edilmiştir. Analiz sonuçlarına göre siber zorbalık okullarda hızla artmaya devam etmektedir. Bu hızlı artışın sebepleri arasında öğrenciler ile birlikte ebeveynlerin, öğretmenlerin ve okul idaresinin konuyla ilgili bilgi ve farkındalık düzeylerinin etkili olduğu saptanmıştır. Bu bağlamda önleyici faaliyetler arasında hem öğrencilere, hem öğretmen ve ebeveynlere konuyla ilgili eğitim, seminer ve rehberlik hizmetlerinin verilmesi gerektiği çalışmalarda sıkça vurgulanan konular arasındadır.
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Developments in educational technologies, usage of the Internet and mobile devices as a part of school life have resulted in increased number of cyberbullying cases. The purpose of the study is to explain the term cyberbullying, to analyze the frequency of cyberbullying attempts among students in Turkey and to discuss the causes and effects of the concept. For the puposes of the study a literature research was conducted using Ulakbim-DergiPark database with the key word cyberbullying. As a result, 31 journal articles were analyzed with content analysis in terms of the limited scope. The research illustrated that cyberbullying has been increasing among students in Turkey. It is revealed that knowledge and awareness level of students, parents, teachers and school administratives is influential on this rapid increase. Therefore, providing trainings, seminars and guidence for students teachers and parents is suggested as the preventing activities in the articles frequently.

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2017

Over the past two decades, many studies have been conducted on agenda-setting theory focusing on ... more Over the past two decades, many studies have been conducted on agenda-setting theory focusing on the relationship between mainstream media and internet platforms. However, these studies predominantly addressed the phenomena within the American media context. Therefore, the knowledge about a totally different context such as Turkey is unclear. That is the reason why, in this study, I intend to close the gap by analyzing the intermedia agenda-setting relationship between online Turkish mainstream media and social media. The data were collected from a major newspaper, Hürriyet, and Twitter twice per day, mornings and evenings, from 8 February 2015 to 14 February 2015. Later, two separate content analyses were conducted, and cross-lagged panels were designed to examine the hypothesized relationships which predicted a bi-directional influence between mainstream media and Twitter. The results revealed no clear intermedia agenda-setting relationship between media.

İLEF Dergisi, 2017

Günümüzde ana akım medya ile sosyal ağlar arasındaki ilişkiyi doğru ve sağlıklı bir biçimde anlam... more Günümüzde ana akım medya ile sosyal ağlar arasındaki ilişkiyi doğru ve sağlıklı bir biçimde anlamak gitgide daha büyük bir önem kazanmaktadır. Dolayısıyla bu ilişkiyi en iyi ve sağlam şekilde anlayacak ve test edecek bilimsel yöntemlerin bilinmesi ve uygulanması da ciddi bir ihtiyaç olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu noktadan hareketle kaleme alınan bu makalede, daha önce Amerika'da yapılmış bir araştırma model alınarak Hürriyet Online ve Twitter gündemleri arasındaki ilişkiyi anlamak üzere tasarlanmış, geçerliliği ve güvenilirliği test edilmiş bir çalışmanın yöntemi ve analizinin detayları anlatılmaktadır. Böylelikle dünyada kullanılan yöntemlerin Türkiye'de daha iyi anlaşılması amaçlanmaktadır. Bu yöntemlerin uygulanması kuşkusuz Türkiye'deki gündem belirleme literatürüne büyük katkılar sağlayacak ve bu alanda yapılan çalışmaları güçlendirecektir.
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Understanding the relationship between the mainstream media and social networks in a correct and healthy way has become increasingly important today. Therefore, knowing and practicing the scientific methods that will comprehend and test this relationship in the best and the most sound way is a serious need as well. Therefore, by borrowing a model from a previous research from the USA, this article describes the method of a validity and reliability-tested work designed to understand the relationship between Hürriyet Online and Twitter agendas. Thus, the aim is to make the methods used across the world better understood in Turkey. The implementation of these methods will undoubtedly make a great contribution to the agenda-setting literature in Turkey and will strengthen the work done in this area.

Erciyes İletişim Dergisi, 2017

Son 60 yılda iki askeri darbe, iki kez muhtıra ile hükümetin istifaya zorlanması ve iki de başarı... more Son 60 yılda iki askeri darbe, iki kez muhtıra ile hükümetin istifaya zorlanması ve iki de başarısız darbe girişimi gören Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, 15 Temmuz 2016’da yeni bir darbe girişimiyle daha karşı karşıya kalmıştır. Bastırılan bu darbe girişimi medyada çok yoğun bir şekilde haberleştirilmiş, kısa süre içinde yüzlerce haber ana akım medyada yer bulmuştur. Bu gerçeklikten yola çıkan çalışmada, ideolojik eğilimleri ve seslendiği okuyucu kitlesi farklılaşan dört ana akım medya kuruluşunun web sitelerinde yer alan haberler incelenmiştir. Alexa verilerine göre darbe girişimine ilişkin ilk üç günü kapsayan 15 ile 17 Temmuz 2016 tarihleri arasında Türkiye’de en çok tıklanan ana akım gazete web sitelerinden olan Hürriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet ve Sabah kuruluşları çalışmaya dâhil edilmiş ve üç günde bu haber kuruluşlarından toplam 760 haber toplanmıştır. Elde edilen haberler içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiş, haber tema ve aktörlerine ilişkin bulgular tartışılmıştır. Sonuçlar medyanın darbe girişimini şiddet, demokrasi ve terör üçgeninde ön plana çıkardığını göstermiştir. Yine medyanın kırılgan dönemlerde siyasi ve bürokratik kaynaklara mikrofonu uzatırken, sivil toplumu ve uzmanları görmezden geldiği de saptanmıştır.
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The Republic of Turkey, a country which had seen two military coups, two memorandums to force the government to resign and two failed coup attempts in the past 60 years, faced a new coup attempt on July 15, 2016. This coup attempt, which was suppressed, was covered intensively on media and in a short period of time hundreds of news items were found in the mainstream media. Therefore, in this study news stories from the websites of four mainstream media company all of which have different ideological tendencies and audience, were examined. Hürriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet and Sabah which were the most visited news websites in Turkey during the first three days of the coup attempt, 15-17 July, according to Alexa, were included in the research and in total 760 news stories were collected. Later, a content analysis was conducted and the themes of the news items and sources were determined. The results showed that the media featured the coup attempt within the triangle of violence, democracy, and terror. The results also revealed that during the times of fragility, the media tend to extend the microphone to political and bureaucratic figures and ignore the NGOs and specialists.

Akdeniz İletişim, 2016

This article’s main purpose is to understand whether the intermedia agenda-setting effect occurs ... more This article’s main purpose is to understand whether the intermedia agenda-setting effect occurs between the online versions of international newspapers and Twitter during the Papal election in 2013. The researchers have tracked each available country’s trending topics on Twitter to understand the popularity of the subject in various countries. The researchers then followed each country available on Twitter at the time when the study was conducted, starting right after the announcement of the new Pope at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican on 12 March 2013 till 15 March 2013 for four days and collected all available data. Later, the researchers collected data from the websites of international newspapers, The New York Times, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal. Two computer-based content analysis were conducted. In order to understand the relationship amongst these media entities, the cross-lagged panel design with the Rozelle-Campbell (1969) baseline was used. In the end, researchers examined the second level agenda setting effect between media by looking into what was said about the Papal election – positive, negative, or neutral. The results supported both first and second-level agenda setting influence between media.

Selçuk İletişim, 2016

Mesajın şiddet dolayımıyla aktarıldığı terör eylemleri, son yüzyılda yaşanan teknolojik gelişmel... more Mesajın şiddet dolayımıyla aktarıldığı terör eylemleri, son yüzyılda yaşanan teknolojik
gelişmeler ve kitle iletişim araçlarının sunduğu imkânlar ile hedeflediği etkiyi yaratan
toplumsal olaylardır. Türkiye’de son beş yılda yaşanan yirmiye yakın terör saldırısı ülkede
terör eylemlerine karşı korku ve paniğe yol açarken, medyanın olayı haberleştirme pratiğinde
de değişimler gözlenebilmektedir. 12 Ocak 2016 tarihinde İstanbul Sultanahmet
medyanında Suriyeli bir intihar bombacısının düzenlediği ve turistlerin yaşamını yitirdiği
terör eylemi, ölenin ve öldürenin yabancı ülkelerden olduğu ilk saldırı olması bakımından
incelemeye değerdir. Gündem belirleme kuramı ışığında toplumsal gündemi belirleyen
bu olayın ulusal ve uluslararası medya tarafından nasıl ele alındığının niceliksel
ve niteliksel içerik analizi ve çerçeveleme yöntemleri ile analiz edildiği bu çalışma, terörün
haber dilinin küreselleşmekte olduğunu göstermesi bakımından önemli ipuçları sağlamaktadır.
Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Zaman, Sabah, El Jezire, New York Times, Euronews ve
BBC medya kaynaklarından toplam 148 haber makalesi üzerinde gerçekleştirilen analizde,
teröristin etnik kimliğinin uluslararası güvenlik endişesi kadar öne çıktığı, din ve
kardeşlik çerçevesi yerine ekonomi çerçevesinin belirgin olduğu saptanmıştır. Ulusal
medyaya getirilen yayın yasağına benzer şekilde uluslararası medyanın da olayı sıklıkla
resmi kaynaklara dayandırması, terörün küreselleşen bir haber dili yarattığını ortaya
koymaktadır.
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As a social issue in which the message is transmitted via violence, the terror acts are able
to create the intended effect with the technological developments and opportunities offered
by mass media. Around 20 terror attacks hit Turkey in the last five years and that resulted
in fear and panic across the county. In that sense the language of media could differ
whilst covering the stories. The attack by an ISIS-affiliated Syrian suicide bomber
killed tourists in Istanbul Sultanahmet district on January 12, 2016, was important,
since it was the first terror attack in Turkey that all victims and the assailant were foreigners.
In this study, a qualitative and quantitative content analysis and framing analysis
were conducted to Turkish and international media to understand the way different
media cover terror acts. The results provided a better understanding of the globalization
of the news language on terror. 148 news articles were collected and analyzed from the websites of Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Zaman, Sabah, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, Euronews
and the BBC. The results demonstrate that the identity of the assailant was as
salient as the international security concerns. Also, it is determined that the discussions
on economics were more salient than the religion frame. In conclusion, international media
coverage did not differ from Turkish media, even though a media ban was imposed on
Turkish media, since both media depended mainly on the official sources which reveals a
globalized language on terror acts on global media.

Sustainability and Climate Change, 2024

Kültür ve İletişim, 2024

Y.U. UNESCO Chair on International Migration Policy Brief Series, 2024

Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 2024

Visual Communication Quarterly, 2023

Visual Studies, 2023

Visual Communication, 2024

Communications, 2022

Visual Studies, 2023

Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2021

İNİF E-Dergi, 2021

Tripodos, 2020

Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 2019

AJIT-e: Online Academic Journal of Information Technology, 2017

İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 2017

İLEF Dergisi, 2017

Erciyes İletişim Dergisi, 2017

Akdeniz İletişim, 2016

Selçuk İletişim, 2016

Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus, Sep 14, 2021

How do polarized media systems respond to political discord during a global health crisis in a co... more How do polarized media systems respond to political discord during a global health crisis in a competitive authoritarian regime? This study focuses on Turkey as an exemplary case and explores the news coverage of the political dissension between the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) regarding the COVID-19 aid campaigns. The study uses a quantitative content analysis to analyze populist frames and investigate the polarization of the mainstream media (the pro-government outlets Sabah and Hürriyet, the opposition Sözcü and Cumhuriyet), public broadcasting (TRT), and the alternative media (Bianet). The results from 1,143 news stories show that the selected Turkish media outlets adopted differing (populist) framing strategies and source adoptions to propagate their affiliated political actor/socio-political camp’s discourses. While the public broadcasting outlet TRT did not serve as an exception in this partisan media landscape, the alternative media outlet Bianet adopted a balanced stance in its coverage of the COVID-19 aid campaign issue. The findings reveal that the news outlets’ coverage was in line with political party ideologies and the polarization of the media during the pandemic tracks the earlier patterns of political dissensions in Turkey.

Sosyal Bilimci Gözüyle PANDEMİ: Covid-19 Üzerine Araştırma, Uygulama ve Tartışmalar, Dec 2020

Bu çalışma COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde yalan haber (fake news) kavramının akademik yazındaki tip... more Bu çalışma COVID-19 pandemisi sürecinde yalan haber (fake news) kavramının akademik yazındaki tipolojisini ortaya çıkarmayı hedeflemektedir. Bu doğrultuda çalışma, “COVID-19” ve “fake news” anahtar kelimelerinin birlikte geçtiği Web of Science Core Collection veri tabanı içinde tespit edilen akademik makalelerin detaylı bir okuma ve analize tabi tutulmasına dayanmaktadır. Bu iki kavram birlikte aratıldığında 19 İngilizce makaleye rastlanmıştır. Bu makalelerin öncelikle genel özellikleri, konuları ve yapıldığı ülkeler kategorize edilmiştir. Ardından tek tek detaylı bir okuma ve incelemeye tabi tutulan bu makalelerde yalan haber kavramının nasıl tanımlanıp hangi kavramlarla ilişkili kullanıldığı ortaya konularak yalan haber kavramının pandemi sürecinde akademik yayınlardaki tipolojisi ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Sonuçlara göre yalan haberlerin 5 farklı kullanımı tespit edilmiştir. Bunlar, (1) fabrikasyon/uydurma, (2) dezenformasyon ve infodemi, (3) komplo teorileri, alternatif gerçeklik, dedikodu ve efsaneler, (4) manipülasyon, (5) kamuoyunun rolü olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu tanımlamalardan fabrikasyon/uydurma, dezenformasyon, manipülasyon gibi kullanımlar öncül çalışmalarda da tespit edilmişken mevcut makalede ise yeni ve farklı olarak komplo teorileri, infodemi ve özellikle de kamuoyunun rolü ile ilişkili tanımlamalar bulunmuştur. Çalışmanın bulguları öncül araştırmalar ışığında geçmişten günümüze farklı tanımlamalar üzerinden tartışılmıştır.

Dünya Örnekleri Çerçevesinde Siyasal İletişim, Sep 2020

Bu çalışma, İngiltere Başbakanı Boris Johnson’ın ülkenin Avrupa Birliği’nden çıkış (Brexit) sürec... more Bu çalışma, İngiltere Başbakanı Boris Johnson’ın ülkenin Avrupa Birliği’nden çıkış (Brexit) sürecinde İngiliz parlamentosunu askıya alma kararının farklı ideoloji ve stildeki gazetelerde nasıl çerçevelendiğine odaklanmıştır. Örnekleme dâhil edilen haber kuruluşları sol, sağ ve merkez olmak üzere farklı politik görüşte okuyucu kitlelerine sahip gazetelerle (The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent, The Daily Mirror) beraber kamu yayıncılığını da (BBC’nin web sitesi) kapsamaktadır. Çalışmada Seymour-Ure (1974)’nin basın-parti paralelliği ve Hallin ve Mancini (2004)’nin medya sistemleri yaklaşımlarından yola çıkılarak haber kuruluşlarının sergiledikleri siyasi tutum üç önemli gün üzerinden değerlendirilmiştir. Bunlar; (1) Başbakan’ın parlamentoyu askıya aldığını duyurması, (2) İskoç Yüksek Mahkemesi’nin Boris Johnson’ın kararının hukuksuz olduğuna hükmetmesi, (3) İngiliz Yüksek Mahkemesi’nin Boris Johnson’ın kararının hukuksuz olduğuna hükmetmesi. Sonuçlar, aynı meseleyi çok farklı iki uca savrularak haberleştiren İngiliz basınındaki bölünmenin oldukça derin bir kutuplaşmaya evrildiğini ortaya koymuştur. Sonuçlar basın-parti paralelliği ve medya sistemleri kavramları üzerinden detaylı olarak tartışılmıştır.
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This study focused on how PM Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue the British parliament before the Brexit deadline was framed in newspapers of different ideologies and styles. The sample of the study consists of newspapers representatives of the left-right political spectrum (The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Express, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent, and The Daily Mirror), as well as public service broadcaster (BBC website). Drawing on Seymour-Ure (1974)’s press-party parallelism, and Hallin and Mancini (2004)’s media systems approach, I aimed to explore the stances of the aforementioned news outlets on three breakpoints: (1) PM's decision of prorogation, (2) the Scottish Court ruling that the PM's prorogation was unlawful, (3) the UK Supreme Court ruling that the prorogation was unlawful. The results showed that the British Press, in which press-party parallelism is traditionally very strong, has a highly polarized response towards the issue. The implications for the press-party parallelism and media systems approach are discussed.