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The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
Objective Journalism or Partisan Press? Approach of Sabah Newspaper to
Political Parties In March 29, 2009: Local Elections Exemplifying The
Partisan Press in Turkey
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ömer Özer Journalism Department, Faculty of Communication Sciences
Anadolu University, Eskişehir, TURKEY omerjk@mynet.com
Tel: +90 222 335 05 80 (52 68-office)
Fax: +90 222 320 45 20
Assist. Prof. Dr. Neda Üçer Visual Communication Design Department, Faculty of
Communication, Yeditepe University, İstanbul, TURKEY nsaracer@yeditepe.edu.tr
Abstract
Partisan Press appeared in the United States in the latter half of the 18 th century. In this
period, the press got out of the political government control, however, it came under the
control of political parties. Today, as in some other countries, Turkey also experiences cases
of partisan press intensively. The problem of partisan press is closely related to economy-
politics of the media. In this study, the historical background and development of partisan
press is outlined, the development of press in Turkey is explained. Considering the role of
media this study has the purpose also to discuss media’s 4 th Estate role in liberal-pluralistic
democracies. Therefore it introduces the way news about political parties is presented in a
newspaper during the local elections in Turkey and tries to find out newspaper’s approach.
Here the main concern is to understand newspaper’s objectivity or partisanship to each
political party. Thus the present study presents Sabah newspaper’s approach to political
parties during March 29 th , 2009 Local Elections in Turkey. It includes news 15 days before
the Elections and analyzes newspaper’s approach to political parties of Turkish Grand
National Assembly. The findings of the study show that Sabah newspaper has a partisan press
positioning during the elections and supports AKP, the government party. This is a very
critical situation for Turkish media because it constitutes a threat to media’s objectivity and
society’s primordial role of being informed objectively.
Key Words: Partisan Press, Objective Journalism, Media Monopolization.
Introduction
The present study introduces Sabah newspaper’s approach to political parties during
March 29 th , 2009 Local Elections as an example of political partisan press in Turkey. The
study draws the attention to press’ social role, mentions the historical development of both
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