17 Ağustos 1999 Marmara depreminden sonra Türk gazetelerinde kamuoyu oluşturmak açısından fotoğraf kullanımı

Abstract

ABSTRACT THE USAGE OF NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS ON TURKISH NEWSPAPERS IN THE FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION AFTER THE 17 AUGUST 1999 MARMARA EARTHQUAKE The mass media are seen as the 'fourth estate' due to the functions they fulfill in modern democratic societies. One of the most important function that the mass media fulfill in different stages of the democratic processes is to inform the public about the decisions and the practices of the state and the government on the country and the citizens. The role that the mass media report on the events that concern the public and the country give them the power to influence the society in different ways. They have a crucial importance in the formation of public opinion. This depends on the reliable and accurate information provided by the mass media. At this point, one of the most successful medium in terms of reliability appears to be photography as it has the ability to record images permanently on two-dimensional layers. This is mainly due to the optical and chemical processes that the photography uses, which makes it the most often employed visual material in printed media including the newspapers. This thesis takes '17 August 1999 Marmara Earthquake' as its case study since the newspapers used considerable number of news photographs in reporting the event It focuses on the role of the news photographs printed on different Turkish newspapers after the earthquake in the formation of the public opinion. It deals with the questions of how much place and time were given to the event, which aspects of the event were brought to the fore, and whether these photographs contributed to the changes with regard to the people and the places affected by the earthquake. The study uses content analysis on the news photographs of the subject matter printed on Cumhuriyet, Dünya, Hürriyet, Radikal, Sabah, Star and Zaman newspapers and also looks at the photographs in detail which portray the main aspects of the earthquake. These are evaluated in the light of theoretical discussions on the area that this study is based on.

ABSTRACT THE USAGE OF NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS ON TURKISH NEWSPAPERS IN THE FORMATION OF PUBLIC OPINION AFTER THE 17 AUGUST 1999 MARMARA EARTHQUAKE The mass media are seen as the 'fourth estate' due to the functions they fulfill in modern democratic societies. One of the most important function that the mass media fulfill in different stages of the democratic processes is to inform the public about the decisions and the practices of the state and the government on the country and the citizens. The role that the mass media report on the events that concern the public and the country give them the power to influence the society in different ways. They have a crucial importance in the formation of public opinion. This depends on the reliable and accurate information provided by the mass media. At this point, one of the most successful medium in terms of reliability appears to be photography as it has the ability to record images permanently on two-dimensional layers. This is mainly due to the optical and chemical processes that the photography uses, which makes it the most often employed visual material in printed media including the newspapers. This thesis takes '17 August 1999 Marmara Earthquake' as its case study since the newspapers used considerable number of news photographs in reporting the event It focuses on the role of the news photographs printed on different Turkish newspapers after the earthquake in the formation of the public opinion. It deals with the questions of how much place and time were given to the event, which aspects of the event were brought to the fore, and whether these photographs contributed to the changes with regard to the people and the places affected by the earthquake. The study uses content analysis on the news photographs of the subject matter printed on Cumhuriyet, Dünya, Hürriyet, Radikal, Sabah, Star and Zaman newspapers and also looks at the photographs in detail which portray the main aspects of the earthquake. These are evaluated in the light of theoretical discussions on the area that this study is based on.