Censorship and self-censorship applications in Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet and Tercüman newspapers during the military coup of September 12, 1980

In the study, while examining the relationship between power and the media in the exceptional regime period of September 12, 1980-November 6, 1983, the focus is on how media employees legitimized the September 12 coup with different methods of censorship practices. Three newspapers in that period were selected for the study. Censorship and self-censorship are identified through comparative analysis of interviews with authors working in these newspapers, especially those providing testimonies, and positioning of two selected "case studies" in the media. The press has justified the September 12 coup d'etat by denouncing politicians responsible for the operation of the bureaucracy before the coup, the parliament which is the assurance of the democratic administration, and the independence of the bureaucracy, in a position close to the ideology of the military regime. The coup leaders, under martial law, completely eliminated the "legal" system in Turkey by allowing the legitimation of power, establishing in its place "the law of exception." It can be observed that by limiting the democratic debate in social life the censorship practices that the commanders developed in the exceptional time still prevail to the present time.