Media and politics in Turkey and the United States (Essay Sample)

Media and politics in Turkey and the United States
Media plays a significant role to many nations. It not only leads to development of democratic life, but also advancement of political practices. For instance, it is evident that private development of media in Turkey led to the liberalization and development of self identity in early 1990s (Kieser, 81). Media also plays a significant role towards shaping individuals conditions in the society and the public. It achieves this by spreading individuals' ideas and claims extensively. However, media has also great potential for causing fabrication and reproduction of nationalism and thus need to be controlled. Main media in many states have also close links with business groups that are directly or indirectly connected with political fields. Thus, media information is prone to distortion by the desires of the rich. This paper aims at providing detailed information on the relationship between media and politics in Turkey and its comparison with that enacted in the United States. It will also provide detailed information on the differences and similarities between the United States' government and the government of Turkey. Additionally, it will expound on the media practice both in the USA and Turkey.
Control of the information provided to the public is very common in Turkey. Turkey is one of the countries that are known of having treated people like the blacks during the colonial times. Its masters considered the citizens of Turkey primitive and incompetent in terms of education during the slavery time. This was made successful by the involvement of media in publishing what they were ordered to publish by the military. Additionally, it was backed by the killing of journalists who tried to write dirty things about the state. Just like in the past, Turkey lacks perfect liberal democracy. This evidenced by the occasional killings of the political journalists. For instance, Hrant Dink, a political journalist was killed recently. Although his perpetrators were brought to justice, it is evident that those who ordered for his execution are still at large.
Politicians also play a significant role in controlling media in Turkey. Turkey is renowned of having competent leaders; powerful leaders who have stayed in government for over ten years. Unfortunately, these leaders impact the running of the media negatively. They influence decision made by most sources of media. Ownership of media is also a source of challenge in Turkey. For instance, the mainstream media is under the ownership of competent businessmen who have great interest on governmental controlled elements such as mining and banking businesses (Kumbaracibasi, 76). Such businessmen use their media to coax top government officials such as the president in winning their interests. In addition to the structure of media, the limitation of editorial independence also contributes to lack of democracy in Turkey. Additionally, judiciary takes part in undermining the exercise of democracy in Turkey. In most occasions, Turkey's judiciary supports the decisions made by the government without defining their consequences. Majority of the judges that compose Turkey's judiciary lack not only exposure, but also do not know foreign languages. The lack of exposure and inadequacy in languages contribute significantly towards poor democracy practices in Turkey (Bilgin, 17).
Although there are great challenges posed to media in Turkey, its citizens have freedom of expression. Politicians in Turkey do not like critics. However, there is great possibility for one not to end up in jail for criticizing the government. Turkey has over 40 million distributing newspapers that serve over 1 million people with pieces of information concerning the government daily. Thus, it is evident that freedom of expression is not a problem in Turkey. The key problem in Turkey is ownership of the mainstream media. The owners of mainstream media greatly impact what is printed in the newspapers.
Media in the United States plays a very significant role in the running of American politics. It also helps in defining the culture of the Americans. The rise of communication technologies has greatly impacted the influence of media to American society. Technology advancement has enhanced politicians association with the public. Just as in Turkey, media in the United States not only inform the citizens on political and social issues that take place in the society, but also grant them the opportunity of expressing their opinion (Willis, 49). The information offered in American media also grants the public the opportunity of rating the events taking place in their country critically. Unlike in Turkey, media in the United States plays the role of acting as a watchdog. It carries out not only surveillance over government actions, but also calls attention to those who mistreat government officials.
Although media and politics are different entities with different objectives in the U.S.A, it is evident that they rely on each other. For instance, media picks on the things done or spoken by the politicians as pieces of news whereas politicians adore visibility. Just as in Turkey, media the U.S.A was owned by some specific groups of people in early times. The political parties in the U.S.A owned the printed papers and controlled their budget. Additionally, the political parties in the U.S.A also controlled what people read by appointing their own journalist, thus hampering with information provided to the public by media.
Just as in Turkey, media in the United States was controlled by few specific firms in the past. In most occasions, the firms affected public opinions and democracy. However, the internationalization of services has led to American media diverging greatly. It has also led to most leaders not only to pay attention to what America government does, but also to employ the positive elements learnt in running their respective nations. The extensive use of internet in the United States has also diversified the impacts of media to both the citizens of America and other observers from other growing nations (Graber, 71).
Unlike Turkey, the United State's media grants ordinary citizens with the chances of hearing how their politicians defend themselves directly in different platforms. Unfortunately, political debates in America are occasionally emanated by fraud. This is evidenced by the act of most politicians in America taking part in arguments without touching on important issues. Additionally, the involvement of the politicians in pseudo-debates without touching on real problems on the ground makes American citizens develop negative attitude towards media just like Turkey citizens.
The characters of most journalists in America also play a significant role towards tainting the picture of American media. Just as in Turkey, most journalists in America lack originality; they rely on information from different sources instead of being critical in their act of gathering pieces of information. This is evidenced by the act of most journalists in America. Journalists in America not only fabricate pieces of information, but also distort it before delivering to the citizens.
Newspapers
Unlike the American media, the Turkish media is not only lively, but also very crowded. About 30 national daily newspapers are produced in Turkey. It has also over a hundred local newspapers that work in conjunction with radio stations. Almost all elements of media in Turkey are owned by a few individuals. Additionally, Turkey has a national public broadcaster that is funded by the Turkish government. Despite of the availability of diverse elements of conveying message to the public, it is also evident that Turkey differs from America by its journalist having fraught relationship with its government officials. The government policies of Turkey also play a significant role in controlling what media conveys to the public. The journalists of Turkey also lack the freedom of expression and speech. Unlike in ...