Before and after the first Turkish coup d'etat: changing political attitudes of the newspaper "Yeni Sabah" during and after 27 May 1960

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1819771 (Table of Contents)

The media plays a great role in distribution of national news and political arguments to the citizens. It is the key element for politicians, interest groups and journalists to form a public opinion, win polls, and in illiberal cases to manipulate and control. This is not different for the Turkish Republic; the media was the spannugsfeld, the area of political tension and conflict between two major political competitors: Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Democrat Party (DP). Concentrating on the daily newspaper Yeni Sabah, this research will investigate the attitude of this medium during the first coup d’etat in 27 May 1960, until the elections held in 1961. The shifts and fluctuations in attitudes of the newspaper and the polemics it got into with the opposing mediums will shed a light on how the newspaper got molded in early Turkish democratization attempts. This presumed change in the newspaper policies will be examined in the context of the news and columns, tone of the authors and headlines.