Reporting What's Going on at the Neighbors from a Distance: Turkish News Channels' Breaking News Coverage of the 2018 Missile Strikes against Syria


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Akkor Gul A.

TURKIYE ILETISIM ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI-TURKISH REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES, cilt.0, sa.37, ss.170-192, 2021 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 0 Sayı: 37
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.17829/turcom.808545
  • Dergi Adı: TURKIYE ILETISIM ARASTIRMALARI DERGISI-TURKISH REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION STUDIES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.170-192
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Turkish News Channels, Breaking News, Sources, Violations of Journalism Conventions, International News, TELEVISION-NEWS, LIVE COVERAGE
  • İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The research variables of this study are "Turkish journalists' role preferences" and "Turkish television channels' use of sources" during the first eight hours of breaking news coverage of the 2018 missile strikes against Syria. The researcher employs content analysis to answer mainly two questions: "Did Turkish journalists perform roles other than "traditional disseminator?" and "Was their reporting balanced insofar as conflicting perspectives were treated equitably?" The study identifies that Turkish journalists preferred the "traditional journalist" role when reporting from Turkey but that of "social commentator" when reporting from abroad. Deviations from traditional journalism consisted of "reporting rumors," "citing anonymous sources," and "making personal references." On the other hand, there was a lack of diversity and balance in the use of sources. For instance, no broadcast journalists reflected the opinions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey, and very few reported from anywhere near the scene of the action. Thus coverage was inadequate insofar as reporters largely focused on one side's perspective.