Abstract:

U.S. presidential elections (U.S.A.) have always been an agenda for the whole world. In 2008, when a black man became a candidate for the White House, it drew the whole world’s to attention to the U.S.A. This black man was Barack Hussein Obama who was going to make history after becoming the president. The fact that Obama became the first black president in the White House by winning 2008 elections was considered as a revolution regarding American history. In 2012, Obama announced his candidacy and was re-elected. Obama with his these two election victories became a current issue not only in Turkey but also all around the world. The aim of this study is to analyze 2008 and 2012 U.S. presidential elections in selected Turkish newspapers in terms of their frequency of being in the front page, their positions in the newspapers, and the newspapers’ approaches to this issue. In the study, a comparison of how these two periods took place in press was made. How and with what kinds of differences these 2008 and 2012 U.S. presidential elections were reflected in Turkish press forms the main question of this study. A qualitative and quantitative content analysis method was used in the study in which 20 days of each election periods were analyzed. The study is important in terms of determining Turkey-US relations and seeing how U.S. elections were reflected in Turkish press. According to the findings in the study, Turkish press have shown interest in both the 2008 elections and the 2012 elections.

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