The use of mass media in local governments' election efforts: The example of the local elections in Kütahya, 31 March 2019

Mass media has been used by people for the first time since it arrived. Globalization and technological developments in the 21st century increase this usage rate day by day and add a different dimension to these tools. The continious development and change of mass media has made these tools an indispensable element of political life. As a matter of fact, it is seen that many political elements such as all political parties, politicians, and local governments attach great importance to the effective use of mass media. The aim of study is to support this view, in the local elections of March 31, 2019, it has tried to reveal that mass media (especially social media platforms) have become an indispensable element of political life by examining the posts of politicians who were candidates for the Kütahya Mayoralty on social media platforms with the method of content analysis. In the first part of our study, mass, communication, mass communication and its tools, functions of mass media are discussed. In the second part, political communication and its methods, political communication and persuasion, local governments, democracy, political participation and the factors affecting political participation are mentioned. In the third and last part, the relationship between the elections and the media, the role of the media in the elections in Turkey, the role of media in the local elections and the social media posts of the politicians who were candidates fort he Kütahya Municipality in the local elections of 31 March 2019 were analyzed by contect analysis method. Keywords: Democracy, Elections, Local Governments, Mass Media, Social Media