Browsing by Author "Yücesoy, Umut Görkem"

The purpose of this study is to explore how the disputes regarding the project of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant took place in Turkish mainstream newspapers. The challenges of journalism and media ownership structure in Turkey are discussed as well as the coverage of nuclear energy in newspapers around the world. Based on a set of key events, 4 different periods between 2010 and 2015 are determined for researching 3 of the most read newspapers in Turkey: Hürriyet, Milliyet, and Sabah. The main research question is: How do the Turkish mainstream newspapers represent the support for and the opposition towards Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant?” The accompanying sub-questions are: What are the frames that can be revealed? Which sources are mentioned the most? To what extent the attention is drawn towards regional discontent and legal disputes about the project? The data is collected by using the online platforms of the 3 newspapers by entering the keyword “akkuyu” and selecting the news articles based on the 4 periods. Frame analysis is conducted to answer the questions. As a result, it is found out that the emerging frames are related to the concepts of safety, democracy, legality, economy, practicality, and international relations. The formation of 7 frames is observed: Safety threat, economic threat, abuse of power, incompetent management, all of which are used by the opposition; and international prestige, economic opportunity, and competent management, all of which are used by the support. Hürriyet and Milliyet made both the frames and the sources of opposition more visible compared to the support, and Sabah made the frames and the sources of support overwhelmingly visible compared to the opposition in its overall coverage. The most visible opposition in Hürriyet and Milliyet consists of non-parliamentary groups, and the most visible support in all 3 newspapers consists of ruling party members. The discontent and legal disputes about the project are emphasized in Hürriyet and Milliyet, mainly through quoting the opposition, however, neither of them provided independent investigative reports.