Orientalization Practices in Mainstream Turkish Foreign News Coverage

Authors : Fahrettin ALTUN

Pages : 139-166

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Publication Date : 2011-10-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study explores the content, causes and results of Orientalization practices in mainstream Turkish foreign reporting. The analysis is made of the “World” pages of the two national newspapers Hürriyet and Habertürk , which can be considered the mainstream Turkish media. Limiting the analysis to the field of journalism, news articles published between May 5 - June 5, 2010 are analyzed. Orientalism theories and the cultural strategies of media provide the basis of analysis employed in this study. Foreign coverage in the given articles provides the samples of Orientalization discourse and practices in mainstream Turkish media. This study suggests that Orientalist perspectives are quite common in ‘foreign coverage’ in the Turkish media. Foreign news reports clearly exhibit the Orientalization ‘reflex’, which is one of the most visible legacies of Orientalist cultural strategies.
Keywords : Orientalization, mainstream Turkish media, foreign news coverage, Hürriyet, Habertürk