Effects of news media manipulation on Borsa Istanbul (Istanbul stock exchange): Bull trap for small investor

This study fundamentally aims to discuss the effects of media inequalities in access to stock markets, stock choices, individual small investors and news media. In line with this purpose, in the period of local elections held in Turkey in 2019, some aspects such as how individual small investors perceived the news headlines in the news media in the decision to re-run the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayoral election, how they steered their investments, and Borsa İstanbul's performance in the 7-week period from the decision to repeat the election to the date of the re-election are analyzed as a case in this study. In this research, during the local elections held in Turkey in 2019, the performance of five indexes in Borsa Istanbul in the 7-week period from the date of the decision to repeat the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayoral election to the date of the re-election has been presented. In addition, interviews were conducted with 10 individual small investors who had invested in the aforementioned period, using the semi-structured in-depth interview technique. In addition to this research, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with four experts in the field. According to the findings of the research, the news media affect the stock market and the investment decisions of individuals. In addition, the decision to re-run the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality elections in the year 2019 affected Borsa İstanbul's performance. On the other hand, the impact of the re-election decision on individual small investors is controversial. Within the scope of this study, it has been recommended that journalists should make news that will protect the interests of citizens, that they should Look after the public interest in the news, that news agencies should limit the paid subscription system, that all citizens should have instant access to the news, and that financial literacy and media literacy education should be given to students throughout their education life, starting from the primary education level. Via this research, it is aimed to contribute to the Turkish literature in the field of stock market and financial markets from the perspective of communication sciences and to encourage researchers for further studies in this field.