Abstract
The starting point of this study is to reveal how Syrian children, who are still experiencing a vexed problem in Turkey and are thought to affect our immediate future, are represented in the newspapers. The most frequently used themes were identified in the news through qualitative content analysis, and by means of discourse analysis method, it was aimed to reveal the representations produced through discourses. The subject has been discussed from an interdisciplinary and critical perspective. It was an important finding in the news about these children that there is a lack of emphasis concerning children's rights and the perspective of children's rights which was stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to which Turkey is a party. Although the lack of a rights-based perspective in the news in the study is notable, journalism guidelines respecting children's rights should be the basic principle in preparing news about children in general and Syrian children in particular.
TopIntroduction
In our world, children are the most affected group by negative conditions such as socio-economic problems, war, and migration; as a result of these problems, the basic needs of children cannot be met, and they have to face various injustices. Although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), to which Turkey is a party today, protects the human rights of the child, Syrian children, who make up half of Syrian refugees in Turkey, face many problems such as health, housing, social security, discrimination, inability to access to education, sexual abuse, and child labour.
As in cases of war and conflict, in the case of migration, the media influences the public with the meanings it produces when representing events and persons. The focus of concerns about this effect is the probability that the media can circulate more persistent and hard-to-correct prejudices through the representations and discourses produced. Since discourse has an impact beyond being an impartial tool for people to express their thoughts or portray events, language produced in the media directly affects social life, heightens tensions in society, and increases polarization. The discourse, which can be evaluated in the historical and social context of its time, not only affects the way people are interpreting a particular information or situation, but also their positioning against it (van Dijk, 2010, s. 16). The media plays an important role in shaping the general perception of immigrants in the countries receiving immigration. In addition, the media can influence public opinion on immigrants, while at the same time setting the agendas of politicians. In case the children, who can only find very little coverage in the media and who are represented in quite incomplete and incorrect ways, are refugees or immigrants, they still more lose their rights.
As of October 31, 2019, Turkey is hosting approximately 4 million refugees, 3,680,603 of whom are Syrians, according to the Directorate General of Migration Management of the Turkish Ministry of Interior. Only 1.71% (62,673 people) of Syrian refugees stayed in camps set up in border cities; the remaining 98.29% (3,617,930 people) live scattered throughout various cities. This makes Syrians an important social subject in Turkish public opinion, placing them at the center of numerous debates. Nearly half of Syrian population in Turkey (1,726,044 people) are children between 0-18. Given these rates, it is particularly important how refugees living in cities access basic services such as health or education (Table 1).
Table 1. Distribution of the Syrian Children living in Turkey within the context of temporary protection
| Age Range | Boy | Girl | Total |
| 0-4 | 294,834 | 275,402 | 570,236 |
| 5-9 | 254,923 | 240,100 | 495,023 |
| 10-14 | 199,966 | 185,029 | 384,995 |
| 15-18 | 151,977 | 123,813 | 275,790 |
| Total | 901,700 | 824,344 | 1,726,044 |
(Turkish Ministry of Interior, Directorate General of Migration Management, 11.08.2019)
Key Terms in this Chapter
Rights-Based Journalism: The rights-based approach or human rights-based approach aims to take as basic human rights norms and standards. With this feature, the rights-based journalism approach focuses on finding solutions to problems stemming from rights violations to empower disadvantaged groups. The role of the media and the development of a rights-based journalism approach has a great role in the realization of the rights-based approach.
Media Stereotyping: Stereotyping means unfairly grouping all people with a certain trait. In the media, people and groups often stereotype because of their age, gender, race, or culture. For example, children are often represented in the media as victims, or as ‘cute’ attachments to adults.
Media Discourse: Discourse plays a central role in the formation and reproduction of ideology as a form of social cognition shared by members of a group, class, or social formation. It is the use of language and discourse that also affect how we acquire, learn and change ideologies. Discourse as a form of language and communication has many types.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was unanimously adopted in 1989, bringing with it a new philosophy and understanding of the protection, development, and fundamental rights of each child as a rightful individual. According to the convention, people under the age of 18 have these rights, regardless of race, religion, or abilities, regardless of their opinions or statements and whatever family they come from. This convention imposes various obligations on individuals and states to protect and improve the human rights of all children. This contract was also signed by Turkey in 1990 and entered into force in 1995.
Media Representation: Media representation; how people, institutions, events, or facts are depicted in the media; It is accepted as a concept related to how issues or problems are explained to the public and how a causal link is established. It covers all direct and indirect informative dimensions of media products, including representation, symbolic and rhetorical. These representations, on the other hand, do not exclude reality but do not describe in the transparency and neutrality of a flat mirror.
Child Labor: “Child labor” is often defined as jobs that prevent children from living their childhood, diminish their potential and dignity, and are harmful to their physical and mental development. Child laborers; work for hours, often in dangerous conditions, for little wages to contribute to the livelihood of their families. Working conditions; also prevents these children from going to school, spending time with their peers, playing games, and enjoying their free time.
Children's Rights Information Network (CRIN): The Child Rights Information Network (CRIN) is a global network that provides/disseminates information on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and children's rights. The coordination unit is located in the UK, it plays a key role as independent advocates of children and fights for children's rights.
Discourse Analysis: Discourse analysis is a method that aims to determine the strategies by which the news and messages created in the media are formed and what they want to tell and what they are covered. While the news texts are analyzed with the discourse analysis method, the sentences in the news text are evaluated within the framework of their meanings, thoughts, and ideologies.
Vulnerability: Vulnerability is “the group of children that experience negative outcomes, such as the loss of their education, morbidity, and malnutrition, at higher rates than do their peers”.(4) The main categories of vulnerable children outlined in this toolkit are Street children, Children in the worst forms of child labor, Children affected by armed conflict, Children affected by HIV/AIDS, Children living with disabilities.