Traffic Accident News in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Newspapers

Road traffic accidents are one of the major issues in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for the individuals who are involved in a traffic accident, their families, loved ones and also for the government, which suffers from consequences morally and financially. This study aims to find out if the 151 news stories from six local newspapers in TRNC in July 2017 use yellow journalism by using sensationalism and its elements into traffic accident news stories to attract audiences by adding soft news values and to gain more profit from the stories. What is more, by employing quantitative content analysis, this study observes if the selected newspapers miss ethical liabilities while constructing the stories. The conclusion of this study indicates that more than half of the news stories have used sensationalism. Newspapers with more commercial concerns tend to show more sensationalism in the news stories. Thus, it is observed that journalist skip ethical liabilities, when it comes to respecting the news subjects’ identities and personal lives.