Political Discourse in the Historical Context of the Relationship of Media and Politics: 31 March 2019 Local Elections

Media is one of the most important tools for transferring political discourse to society. In this context, especially during the election periods, the news with an intense political discourse constitutes the agenda. The fiction of these news is structured in the axis of the media and politics relationship of the period. The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between media and politics and the reflection of political discourse on the news about the 31 March Local Elections. In the study, in which the discourse analysis method was used, the news shared by the newspapers Sabah, Yeni Şafak, Hürriyet and BirGün, selected as a sample of the study, on 30-31 March and 1 April were analyzed. As a result of the study, it was seen that the news texts lacked semantic richness and were constructed with a one-dimensional perspective. Newspapers have adopted an editorial policy that manipulates the process of political information by putting general political discourse ahead of local political discourses. In addition, in the analyzes, it has been determined that the polarizing approach of politicians is reflected in the news in a partisan manner.