Abstract
The ensuing news commentaries imbued with these various influences that shape the message have to be decoded by the reader in order that he or she can fully comprehend the content. So an accurate accounting of the social issues of governance requires journalists to exercise careful consideration in their use of language and terminology and to show that they fully grasp the background and history of the subject matter being analysed for presentation to readers. Discourse analyses draw on the critical discourse analysis originally devised by ‘Teun A. Van Dijk', a key approach when seeking to discern or uncover the tenets and influences underlying and shaping much of contemporary journalism. This study examines the institutionalised editorial approach of the Özgür Gündem (Independent Agenda) newspaper in its coverage of Turkey's peace negotiations with the PKK, taking due note of the newspaper's ideological bias towards the PKK.
TopIntroduction
Printed news discourses and newspapers differentiate from other types of mass media. They have the social value in that they reach and can ideologically influence a wide audience. Even though today printed news is disseminated on a much smaller scale of mass, it still carries significant weight among the more qualified populace, most notably those considered to be public opinion leaders. Saygılı (2006, p. 14) defines mass communication as the unilateral way of conveying information, thoughts and attitudes to communities through control of the mass media.
Still an influential medium within intellectual circles, newspapers retain a critical position among the mass media. Inevitably, the ideological operating principles of a newspaper play a significant role in the way it presents and interprets the news it purports to cover. However, what is implied here has less to do with how truth is projected (or distorted) as in the way a newspaper presents the news, and is more about how a given news item can be subject to reconstruction according to the ideological bent of the newspaper’s infrastructure.
The restructuring or reconstruction process of reality based on ideological views cannot be considered an isolated or separate process from existing sociality. Media, in which journalism has an integral role, cannot be separated from social reality. Instead, it plays an essential role in its construction. Yet, the information is harmonised to blend and align with the ideological framework and overall values of different media (İşkar, 2014, p. 1). Media eliminate accessed information and acquired data while combining selectively chosen pieces. As Irvan (2014, p. 11) maintains, besides employing conventional approaches, media also recreate, alter and restructure. And, the new content created by media plays a vital role in shaping social and power relations (İşkar, 2014, p. 1).
The printed news discourse has a public and professional obligation to inform, supervise and criticise, disclose and create public opinion, as well as to educate and entertain (Saygılı 2006:54). The ability of print press to determine and shape public perception, create specific social motivations, promote change or reinforce rooted convictions and attitudes makes it an essential constituent in forming public opinion. As part of the social dynamic, news functions to legitimise, recreate and reshape economic, political and ideological power forces. The narrative of the news is influenced by the rhetoric of the ruling power or by institutions or individuals who hold power (İşkar, 2014, p. 2). These characteristics mean that news differentiates from the commoditised versions to be found in other printed press. The news industry reflects its stories in articles by presenting them according to established codes and norms. The story, the subject matter of the news reports presented to the newspaper readers in articles as a form of discourse, is the end product of a journalistic process.
The reader is the consumer who reads and digests the news discourse. News staff select then shape the narrative of the news articles that a newspaper publishes. In doing so, they impose meaning to the published news. Every newspaper is bound by its values, adhering to its own intrinsic style of discourse and professional rules in determining and presenting its news coverage. Adherance to these unique interpretative guidelines in the written discourse reflects the communication strategies that shape the structure and format of a newspaper’s presentation. These strategies, along with the explicit images and rhetoric, steer the reader towards the preferred point of view (İşkar, 2014, p. 2).
It is possible to use a wide variety of methods to expose the hidden discourse present in news discourse. This study uses the principles of discourse analysis of Teun A. van Dijk as a methodology to analyse the type of discourse adopted by Turkey's Özgür Gündem newspaper to influence public opinion regarding the negotiations carried out between Turkey and PKK (the militant Kurdish Workers Party) from the year 2013 to 2015. The recent increase in reinterpretation of the news in Turkish literature using this method has been especially helpful in revealing the prevailing journalist tenets that have been incorporated into the news discourses (Gölcü, 2009; Bulut and Yaylagül, 2004; Mora, 2008; Erol, 2013).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Özgür Gündem: Is a Turkish newspaper which has examine the topic significantly in its coverage of Turkey’s peace negotiations with the PKK.
Peace Negotiations: Between PKK and Turkey has been a hot topic in the mid-2010s which raised significant attention from the whole world.
PKK: Is a designated terrorist organization which has fought a bloody insurgency inside Turkey.
Abdullah Öcalan: Terrorist, was the leader of the PKK who has been arrested for more than two decades but still exerts influence on the organization.
Teun A. Van Dijk: A scholar in the fields of text linguistics, discourse analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and important to the analysis of the study as the one who devised the critical discourse analysis.
AKP: Has been the key actor who has played a significant role for the start and ending of the peace negotiations with the PKK.
Press in Turkey: Is important to analyse the topic as it tends to reflect their political leanings, no matter the profession’s commitment to objective appraisal.
Critical discourse analysis: A method used to discern or uncover the tenets and influences underlying and shaping much of contemporary journalism. In a world susceptible to the distortions of fake news spin, sometimes their writing can even be propelled by a hidden agenda. So it is that impartial and plain news discourse is or can be coloured by the journalist’s tenets and ideologies.