Media analysis of Montenegro-Turkey relations after the restoration of the independence of Montenegro

The media is a major instrument of foreign policy, political progress, and strengthening relations between countries where state and non-state actors use the media and other channels of communication to influence public opinion in foreign societies; media diplomacy, where officials use the media to communicate with actors. Because of this, the main goal of this study is to see if and how Montenegro media are strengthening relations with Turkey by analyzing news in two online newspapers in Montenegro: "RTCG" Radio Televizija Crne Gore (Online News Website of the National TV Service of Montenegro) and "Vijesti" (Independent Online Newspaper) during the year 2021 "the year that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Montenegro for the first time". In order to answer the study question of 'what role does media in Montenegro play in promoting the relationship with Turkey?' the method of discourse analysis was used by analyzing 20 news with the highest number of comments by readers (10 news per newspaper). The Analysis findings that the study sample online newspapers used a simple method in covering news related to the relations between the two countries. Most of the news was positive or neutral, giving only information about the event or publishing information about cooperation agreements between the two countries. The analysis showed a significant use of positive words during publishing the news related to the relationship between Montenegro and Turkey. Also, the newspapers choose to cover the news through all different media styles. Indeed, the online newspapers took advantage and shared videos, photos (visuals), and posts from social media, related to the news used in this study, by means of additional and/or alternative ways for spreading the news. The results indicate the diversity of news coverage related to the relations between Montenegro and Turkey, as the news was distributed between political, military, health, economic, and social, in addition to sports. Keywords: Montenegro, Turkey, Discourse analysis