2011-2013 Constitution-making Process and Media Field in Turkey

Abstract

This paper examines so-called “Constitutional Process” which took place between 2011 and 2013 in Turkey to eventually fail after more than two years of intense work and rise of expectations both in Turkish society and international community from the perspective of media and communications. How Turkish media influenced the constitution making process including workings of Constitutional Conciliation Commission is discussed, surveying relevant media content or performance with a particular focus on the political economy of Turkish media during that period. Traditional media outlets such as newspapers and television channels, and nowadays largely digital platforms, function as present-day agoras where political agenda is determined and contested. These online and offline channels have different levels of influence on discussions of the political elite, as presented extensively in media and communication studies. Together with the global media environment, national media foster the emergence of its own elites, while maintaining multi-layered relationships with high-level political decision-making processes. Media channels therefore bear symbolic powers that impact political policymaking by employing methods such as agenda setting and framing. In this line of thought, this article approaches Turkish media space as a specific field while its content and its political economy are examined in relation with the constitution making process to reveal the role played by media during highly politicized processes, such as constitution making, as well as eliciting the dynamics that herald such media performance.