Environmental communication: Structural analysis of environmental news and awareness of readers

Environmental communication is defined as intersection point of social discussions about environmental issues and problems which includes all types of communication. It is considered in seven dimensions which are environmental communication, discourse studies, socal participation, risk communication, green marketing and environmental journalism. In this study, it is focused on environmental journalism by drawing the theoretical framework of the concept of environmental communication. This research which both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used together has been done for the purpose of profiling the environmental news and journalism in Turkey and presenting how the news readers assessing the environmental news. This research includes the in-depth interview with environmental journalists; content analysis of environmental news at Radikal, Habertürk and Zaman newspapers and questionnaire study with the environmental engineering students of 9 Eylül, Akdeniz, Anadolu, Atatürk, Harran, 19 Mayıs and Uludağ universities. As the result of this study, it is emerged that journalists are faced with some several pressures and constraints while making environmental news. The news which are carrying critical dimension such as forest fires that can be observed directly and news carrying the purpose of warning such as global warming that the results can be observed in the long term in the content analysis are about the environmental problems. When it is looked how the students are evaluating the environmental news; it is precipitated that environmental news are not giving information who are the responsibles of these environmental problems and how these problems will be solved and only giving information at the level of awaness of environmental problems.