Politics, media and democracy: The electoral news coverage in the 2010 Kyrgyzstan and 2011 Turkey elections

Political economy of communication critically evaluates the structural concerns of mass media such as, ownership, professional ethics and labor practiced. Newspapers are significant channel for campaign and election coverage. More citizens are reading newspapers during election periods. As a result newspapers are an important player in the democratization process. This study analyzes the final four weeks of six newspapers in the 2010 Kyrgyzstan and 2011 Turkey parliamentary elections. This study executed a research plan combined qualitative document analysis of primary and secondary resources, and quantitative content analysis of newspapers in two countries. Document analysis includes election times in Kyrgyzstan beginning from 1990 to 2010 elections and in Turkey from 1946 to 2011 elections. Using content analysis, 1626 news from both countries are analyzed for topic, big story, sub story, frame, format, geographic focus, party and lead newsmaker. Methods/categories used in News Index study of the Pew Research Center Journalism Project (formerly known as the PEJ Project for Excellence in Journalism) are used as the basis of determining categories in this project. This study shows that the selected newspapers in both countries focused heavily on election process rather than social issues, and tactics and strategy coverage. Overall, the study evaluates content of newspapers studied within the theory of political economy and shows how the structure and dynamics of the capitalist economy determine the organizational structure and functioning of the media, and how capitalism turns resources (media workers and information) into profitable commodities for capital owners.