DISCOURSE OF ETHNIC CONFLICT IN LOCAL PRESS: CASE STUDY OF MERSİN

Events which are based on ethnic-conflicts have been occured in different periods between distinct groups. one of these conflicts is; the conflict that reached to its peak point on 21 may 2011 in mersin çilek neighborhood between kurdish citizens and citizens that belong to cono tribe. as a result of these events, in which one people died, fourty-five people were injured and houses were sabotaged, citizens of cono tribe were taken from çilek neighborhood under the control of security forces and they were placed to another neighborhood. when the conflicts which are ethnic-based and have heavy balance sheets, are evaluated within its historical background; it is possible to see various reasons that support/ incite tension. the conflicts which affect social peace atmosphere negatively and create a domino effect in intolerances between ethnic groups; have an importance both because of its presence and its way of being announced to public opinion through mass media devices. today’s modern local media is the most privileged and most important device of the society in terms of mass communication. at this point, local press which plays a dominant role in the constitution of local public opinion; can come into prominence as an actor who increases tension or provides a peaceful atmosphere. the goal of this study is to show how journalists report news about conflict and how much they abide to the peace journalism approach. in the theoretical part of this study; ethnic structure of mersin, ethnic groups in society, peace journalism and quantitative structure of mersin’s local press and news discourse are discussed. in the applied part of this study news of events in mersin between 18-24 may 2011 in local press are analysed with “discourse analysis” technique. 12 days of newspapers, published in mersin, constitutes the sample of this study. news about ethnic dimensional conflicts wich are published in newspapers that constitute the sample of this study, are examined in terms of peace journalism with teun van dijk’s discourse analysis technique.