Media and the Representation of the European Union An Analysis of Press Coverage of Turk:ey's European Union Candidacy

This article aims to analyse how the mainstream Turkish press constructed European identity and the meaning of being apart of Europe in the news during the period in which Turkey's candidacy was accepted at the EU Helsinki Summit in December 1999. The article begins by summarising the history of Turkey-EU relations, The findings of a qualitative analysis of the news in three dailies is then discussed by focusing on the actors, their dispositions, the themes-which are discussed under the headings: the meaning of Europe and the EU, expectations from the EU; economic elements, conditions of and obstacles to the EU; political elements-and the ways these themes are expressed. Finally, the article argues that the newspapers analysed make up sensationalist news when rendering the EU newsworthy. Furthermore, headlines of the stories analysed and some extracts from these stories are provided in the article.

Media and the Representation of the European Union: An Analysis of Press Coverage of Turkey's European Union Candidacy

This article aims to analyse how the mainstream Turkish press constructed European identity and the meaning of being apart of Europe in the news during the period in whichTurkey's candidacy was accepted at the EU Helsinki Summit in December 1999. The article begins by summarising the history of Turkey-EU relations, The findings of a qualitativeanalysis of the news in three dailies is then discussed by focusing on the actors, their dispositions, the themes-which are discussed under the headings: the meaning of Europeand the EU, expectations from the EU; economic elements, conditions of and obstacles to the EU; political elements-and the ways these themes are expressed. Finally, the article argues that the newspapers analysed make up sensationalist news when rendering the EU newsworthy. Furthermore, headlines of the stories analysed and some extracts from thesestories are provided in the article.

Keywords:

mainstream Turkish press, European identity Turkey,

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