The influence of traditional mass media such as newspapers, television, and radio in creating the public agenda and presenting the agenda periodically is obvious. This effect of the media has been theorized under the name of “agenda-setting”. On the other hand, the media has the power to frame any subject and transform it over time, thereby influencing public opinion. In this context, the “framing paradigm” has been developed in order to research the meanings and interpretations preferred by the mass media in the construction of social reality. In this study, the presentation of the earthquake reality, which poses a great risk for Turkey, in the media has been investigated. The media has an important power in keeping the effects of the earthquake on the agenda and raising the awareness of the society in Turkey, where the earthquake risk is high and permanent. How much and how the earthquake took place in the media agenda, how it was framed, and what information was included in the frame also constitute an important dimension of risk communication. In the study, TRT Haber, A Haber, CNN Türk, Habertürk and NTV channels in the sample and radio channels of the same institutions; The news and contents of the 26 September 2019 Istanbul and 30 October 2020 Izmir earthquakes were researched. All main news bulletins published in the interval limited to 30 days before and 30 days after the relevant earthquakes; It has been analyzed through various factors such as the coverage of the earthquake news, the frequency of the news, the use of images in the news, the quality of the image used, and the scientific data in the content. It is possible to define the original importance of the study by filling the gap in the relevant literature. This study, which is carried out on risk communication and the effect of traditional media on risk communication, is important in that it has a different perspective from previous studies. While examining the relationship between ‘framing’, which is an important fact of mass communication processes, and risk communication, it has been investigated how the earthquake phenomenon is handled, which elements are highlighted while which ones are left out, in particular television and radio news. In the content analysis, it was aimed to reach the findings regarding the way the earthquake was featured and presented on television and radio before and after the Istanbul and Izmir earthquakes. In this direction, all the main news bulletins of the television and radio channels included in the sample, broadcast between 26.08.2019 and 26.10.2019, were examined for the Istanbul earthquake, and the main news bulletins published between 30.09.2020 and 30.11.2020 were examined for the Izmir earthquake.

When the findings of the research were examined, it was seen that the news about the earthquake was mostly constructed around the framework of human interest. This framework, which aims to create a movement in the emotions of the audience, has been frequently used in media organizations especially after the Izmir earthquake. As the relevant literature points out; Considering the power that media tools have in conveying to the audience “what they should think about” or “about what”, it becomes possible to say that traditional broadcasting in Turkey does not show an agenda-setting reflex for the concepts of “risk, disaster or earthquake”. As the relevant literature points out; Considering the power that media tools have in conveying to the audience “what they should think about” or “about what”, it becomes possible to say that traditional broadcasting in Turkey does not show an agenda-setting reflex for the concepts of “risk, disaster or earthquake.” Based on the findings of the research; It is possible to say that in the traditional broadcasting approach in Turkey, the necessary importance is not given to risk communication, the functions of “illumination and information” are not fulfilled within the framework of “risk and disaster”, and a proactive attitude that requires the necessary warnings to be circulated before disasters occur is not exhibited. So much so that when the content produced for the earthquake was filtered by date, the number of “earthquake news” before the earthquake in Istanbul increased 10 times after the earthquake occurred, mostly on the day of the earthquake. It has been observed that the same news has increased more than 20 times within the framework of the Izmir earthquake. This situation, which was determined especially for the Izmir earthquake, where the loss and damage were great, revealed that certain audio-visual patterns were used in the earthquake news. So, that one third of the news circulated is included in the “Storytelling / Dramatization” theme.