Images of minorities on television in Turkey

This study investigates how the topics regarding minorities and ethnic identities are imaged on the news of the four national television channels in Turkey. It will discuss, examine and analyze by using the case studies, the perspective of the media which is seen to be "stuck" between the legal ground it has been through for many years and today's EU criteria about the issues of minorities and different ethnic groups, what kind of a communication environment the media has created and to what extent it has reflected the demands of such groups on its own expressions. The study is divided into three main chapters. First chapter encompasses the meaning of a minority and citizenship in the context of a nation-state and explanation of the concept of minority in connection with its legal framework. Furthermore, globalization, nation state, minority rights and the effect of the globalization on the demands of the minorities are analysed in this chapter. In the second chapter, the study indicates the approach of the media against the minorities and ethnic identities in Turkey and criteria of the media which have started to change in the process of the harmonization with the European Union. In the last chapter, 4 news bulletins broadcasted between the years 2005?2007 when some important events were experienced about minorities and ethnic identities, are analyzed in terms of the ways they express and convey the above-mentioned events and the relevant findings have been concluded accordingly.