Research Information System
I Turkey, vol.23, no.3, pp.157-180, 2021 (Journal Indexed in ESCI)
This study investigates how the western media reacted immediately
after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. To this end, 91 news
reports and articles in ten newspapers from the U.S., the UK, Germany,
and France, dating from July 15 to July 18, 2016, were analyzed. Based on
content analysis, the early perceptions of the western media were categorized
by sentiment as positive, neutral, or negative in terms of their tone,
feeling, and emotion regarding the coup attempt. The findings show that
only 42 publications were neutral only reporting the news, while 44 publications
were positive about the coup attempt favoring the junta and failing
to support the democratically elected government. On the other hand,
only five publications expressed negative opinions about the coup attempt
by showing strong support for democracy and expressing anti-coup views.
Overall, the analysis shows that journalists are not free of bias; most of
them missed or neglected the damaging consequences of the coup attempt
on Turkish democracy and society due to their negative perceptions about
the incumbent government.