2017 Kyrgyz Presidential Elections in Domestic Media:  An Analysis of the Contents of 24.kg

Mohammed Reyaz

Makale detayları

2017 Kyrgyz Presidential Elections in Domestic Media: An Analysis of the Contents of 24.kg

Yazarlar:

Mohammed Reyaz

Yayıncı:

Izmir Katip Celebi University

Ana Başlıklar:

Gazetecilik Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Eurasian Journal of Media Communication and Culture Studies Vol.2 Issue 1, pp.4-36

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2024

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317046

pISSN:

3023-4115

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has, for long, been regarded as an island of democracy. Compared to neighbouring countries, civil society and media are more plural here and has relatively more freedom. It is also the only country from the region to be considered partly free by the Freedom House. In October 2017, Kyrgyz Republic witnessed an unprecedented Presidential election for a peaceful transition. Elections can be a good time to not only assess the democratic institutions of any country but also study the status and functions of the media. This paper analyzes the coverage of the 2017 presidential elections of Kyrgyzstan in a domestic news agency 24.kg to empirically and qualitatively understand the state of the mediascape there. Using critical discourse analysis, I studied the election coverage to understand the larger context of news, and the role media played in the public sphere of the Kyrgyz Republic and concluded that media industry suffered from economic dependence as well as the lack of culture of plural polity. Even private media helped in agenda-setting through dominant reading of texts. Paid news was rampant while, at the same time, they self-censored themselves, consciously avoiding critical articles or any investigative pieces, particularly against the government for fear of attracting title suits and persecutions, and more importantly losing sponsors.

 The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has, for long, been regarded as an island of democracy. Compared to neighbouring countries, civil society and media are more plural here and has relatively more freedom. It is also the only country from the region to be considered partly free by the Freedom House. In October 2017, Kyrgyz Republic witnessed an unprecedented Presidential election for a peaceful transition. Elections can be a good time to not only assess the democratic institutions of any country but also study the status and functions of the media. This paper analyzes the coverage of the 2017 presidential elections of Kyrgyzstan in a domestic news agency 24.kg to empirically and qualitatively understand the state of the mediascape there. Using critical discourse analysis, I studied the election coverage to understand the larger context of news, and the role media played in the public sphere of the Kyrgyz Republic and concluded that media industry suffered from economic dependence as well as the lack of culture of plural polity. Even private media helped in agenda-setting through dominant reading of texts. Paid news was rampant while, at the same time, they self-censored themselves, consciously avoiding critical articles or any investigative pieces, particularly against the government for fear of attracting title suits and persecutions, and more importantly losing sponsors.

 The Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan has, for long, been regarded as an island of democracy. Compared to neighbouring countries, civil society and media are more plural here and has relatively more freedom. It is also the only country from the region to be considered partly free by the Freedom House. In October 2017, Kyrgyz Republic witnessed an unprecedented Presidential election for a peaceful transition. Elections can be a good time to not only assess the democratic institutions of any country but also study the status and functions of the media. This paper analyzes the coverage of the 2017 presidential elections of Kyrgyzstan in a domestic news agency 24.kg to empirically and qualitatively understand the state of the mediascape there. Using critical discourse analysis, I studied the election coverage to understand the larger context of news, and the role media played in the public sphere of the Kyrgyz Republic and concluded that media industry suffered from economic dependence as well as the lack of culture of plural polity. Even private media helped in agenda-setting through dominant reading of texts. Paid news was rampant while, at the same time, they self-censored themselves, consciously avoiding critical articles or any investigative pieces, particularly against the government for fear of attracting title suits and persecutions, and more importantly losing sponsors.

 Orta Asya cumhuriyetlerinden Kırgızistan uzun zamandır demokrasi adası olarak görülmektedir. Komşu ülkelere kıyasla, burada sivil toplum ve medya daha çoğulcudur ve nispeten daha fazla özgürlüğe sahiptir. Freedom House tarafından kısmen özgür olarak değerlendirilen bölgedeki tek ülkedir. Ekim 2017de Kırgız Cumhuriyeti, barışçıl bir geçiş için benzeri görülmemiş bir Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimine tanık oldu. Seçimler, herhangi bir ülkenin demokratik kurumlarını değerlendirmek için iyi bir zaman olabileceği gibi, medyanın durumu ve işlevlerini incelemek için de fırsat sağlar. Bu makale, Kırgızistandaki 2017 Cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimlerinin yerel bir haber ajansında 24.kg nasıl ele alındığını analiz ederek, medyanın oradaki durumunu ampirik ve niteliksel olarak anlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Eleştirel söylem analizi kullanarak, seçim haberlerini inceleyerek, haberlerin genel bağlamını ve medyanın Kırgız Cumhuriyetinin kamusal alanındaki rolünü anlamaya çalıştım ve medya sektörünün ekonomik bağımlılıktan ve çoğulcu politika kültürünün eksikliğinden muzdarip olduğu sonucuna vardım. Özel medya bile metinlerin egemen okuması yoluyla gündem belirlemeye yardımcı oldu. Ücretli haberler yaygındı ve aynı zamanda, özellikle hükümete karşı herhangi bir eleştirel makaleyi veya araştırmacı yazıyı bilinçli olarak kaçınarak, dava açma ve zulüm korkusu ve daha da önemlisi sponsor kaybetme endişesiyle kendilerini sansürlediler.

Makale detayları

2017 Kyrgyz Presidential Elections in Domestic Media: An Analysis of the Contents of 24.kg

Yazarlar:

Mohammed Reyaz

Yayıncı:

Izmir Katip Celebi University

Ana Başlıklar:

Gazetecilik Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Eurasian Journal of Media Communication and Culture Studies Vol.2 Issue 1, pp.4-36

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2024

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317046

pISSN:

3023-4115

Central Asia

Kyrgyzstan

Election

Media

24.kg

Critical DiscourseOrta Asya

Kırgızistan

medya

seçim

24.kg

söylem analizi

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Mohammed Reyaz

Yayıncı: Izmir Katip Celebi University

Ana Başlıklar: Gazetecilik Çalışmaları

Dergi: Eurasian Journal of Media Communication and Culture Studies Vol.2 Issue 1, pp.4-36

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 12/2024

Belge Dili: İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.): 2001317046

pISSN: 3023-4115

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Mohammed Reyaz

Yayıncı:

Izmir Katip Celebi University

Ana Başlıklar:

Gazetecilik Çalışmaları

Dergi:

Eurasian Journal of Media Communication and Culture Studies Vol.2 Issue 1, pp.4-36

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

12/2024

Belge Dili:

İngilizce

Document ID (Org No.):

2001317046

pISSN:

3023-4115