Abstract:

The aim of this study is to examine the potential role of the media in determining the agenda in the course of the implementation of the relations between Turkey and the European Union and the participation negotiations in the European Union, in the framework of the perception management approach. In this direction, the study, with the "massive sample method" of Turkey's national broadcasting two high-tyre newspapers; Sabah and Hürriyet newspapers have been studied. The EU-TR news published between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2016 is examined by the method of content analysis that it creates perception in the public. According to the data obtained from the investigation, the news in the first pages of the Hürriyet and Sabah newspapers has come to the conclusion that it consists of security, domestic policy, foreign policy, democratization and economic topics. According to the study on the Hürriyete Gazette, a total of 162 news reports on the Tr-EU relations and participation negotiations are emphasized on "internal policy", while the less-treated issue is "economy". The number of positive news given in two newspapers for these five categories created is less seen than the number of negative news, and the number of positive news given in both newspapers is equal. From these findings, it can be concluded that in the written press reports discussed there is a negative perception management regarding the relations of the Turkish-European Union and the participation negotiations and that this perception management is also a part of the issue of democratization.