Schedule 78. Studentische Tagung Sprachwissenschaft

This study explores how Turkish right- and left-wing media framed the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, employing Second-Level Agenda-Setting and Framing theories. My contribution to this project centered on designing the research framework, collecting and organizing the data, and conducting both corpus-based and discourse-oriented analysis. To capture ideological differences, I selected four influential Turkish newspapers: Sabah and Anadolu Ajansı, representing the right-wing perspective, and Cumhuriyet and Sözcü, representing the left-wing. From these sources, I compiled 97 articles published around the election period and processed them using Voyant Tools to conduct word frequency, collocation, and context analyses. This methodological approach enabled the identification of key terms and attributes associated with Donald Trump and the election process, providing a systematic basis for comparing ideological framing strategies.
The findings reveal that right-wing media consistently emphasized Trump’s leadership, electoral victories, and alignment with conservative American values, presenting him as a strong and stabilizing figure. In contrast, left-wing media highlighted themes of populism, societal division, and democratic erosion, portraying Trump’s victory as a sign of risk rather than stability. By linking these findings to Turkey’s domestic political climate, I demonstrated how international events are reinterpreted through national ideological lenses.
My contribution lies in integrating digital text analysis with critical discourse interpretation to reveal the interplay between media bias, political ideology, and global events. In addition, I designed the comparative framework that allowed a clear contrast between conservative and progressive narratives. I also interpreted the implications of word associations, linking them back to theoretical models of agenda-setting and framing. Another key contribution was situating the results within broader debates on media polarization in Türkiye, which added depth to the discussion. I ensured the methodology combined quantitative corpus findings with qualitative interpretations, enhancing the study’s reliability. Moreover, I emphasized how the Turkish case reflects a global pattern where domestic politics shape media portrayals of international events. Finally, I contributed to the conclusion by highlighting the need for future studies to include social media and audience reception to expand the scope of analysis.

The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election drew worldwide attention, but its representation in Türkiye revealed more than just global interest. It provided a lens through which deep domestic ideological divisions became visible. Turkish media outlets, long polarized between pro-government and opposition lines, approached the U.S. election not simply as foreign news but as an opportunity to reinforce their own narratives about leadership, democracy, and national identity.
In this project, I examined the coverage of the election in four widely read newspapers—Sabah, Anadolu Ajansı, Cumhuriyet, and Sözcü—representing conservative and progressive perspectives. The choice of these outlets was deliberate: they are central actors in shaping political discourse and reflect the polarization of the Turkish public sphere. The study focused on the immediate post-election period, when editorial choices are especially telling, and asked how the victory of Donald Trump was interpreted through different ideological filters.
The analysis relied on a combination of computational and interpretive methods. Using Voyant Tools, I created word clouds, frequency counts, and collocation maps to uncover which terms dominated and how they were associated. These quantitative findings were then read critically through discourse analysis, allowing me to capture the narrative strategies behind the numbers. For example, while right-wing outlets frequently associated Trump with “stability,” “victory,” and “American values,” left-wing outlets paired his name with “division,” “populism,” and “uncertainty.” Beyond vocabulary, the structure of headlines, the use of statistics, and the presence or absence of rival political figures provided insight into the framing techniques at play.
This approach highlighted contrasts that might otherwise remain hidden. Right-leaning coverage presented Trump as a mirror for Turkey’s own strong-leadership narrative, often downplaying mention of Democratic candidates. Left-leaning media, however, contextualized Trump’s win within broader trends of populism and democratic erosion, drawing attention to the risks for global governance. Such findings underline the extent to which Turkish media uses international events as a proxy for domestic ideological battles.
The project contributes not only to studies of Turkish media but also to broader debates on how global events are reinterpreted at the national level. It demonstrates the value of combining digital text analysis with critical discourse interpretation, producing results that are both systematic and context-sensitive. At the same time, it acknowledges limitations: the focus on newspapers excludes television, digital-native platforms, and social media, which play a growing role in shaping perceptions.
Future research could expand the dataset to include these outlets and investigate how audiences receive and reinterpret such framing. Exploring reception would add a sociolinguistic dimension, clarifying whether the polarized framings found in print are mirrored in everyday political discussions. Overall, this study suggests that Turkish media’s portrayal of the U.S. elections is less about the United States itself and more about Türkiye’s own ideological struggles—a pattern that illustrates the complex entanglement of global politics and national media discourses.

Info

Day: 2025-11-14
Start time: 12:30
Duration: 00:15
Room: M11.91
Track: Sociolinguistics
Language: en

Links:

• iCalendar

Feedback

Click here to let us know how you liked this event.