ABSTRACT

Against liberal approach which claims that the news is an “objective”, “impartial” and “balanced” communication field, critical approch brings forward that those who possess the economical and political power in the societies determine the structure and content of the news and form how the society should think on which topics. Critical approach states that dominant classes do not possess only the power of using force to ensure social compromise in order to continue their dominance but that social reality is reproduced via media to stiffen the ideology of the dominant classes. In this sense, contrasting classes in the society can be said to struggle not only in the economical field but also in the ideological field. In this work, how the Tekel worker action is presented in Turkish print media is investigated, an action in which workers who lost their jobs as a result of privatisation, resisted during 78 days against all deterrent pressures in their tented resistance camp they established in Ankara, rejecting the 4-C job, which means working temporarily employed, without security and with lower wages, conditions which were imposed upon them in general. For this research, two newspapers Zaman and Cumhuriyet, which have two different ideological and power relationships, are scanned on internet and they are investigated in a comparative way qualitatively using Van Dijk’s critical discourse analysis technique. It is observed that Zaman newspaper tried to lower the importance of the action, which lasted 78 days, by carrying it on the front page 8 times and also that it selected its news sources from government authorities and representatives of emploeyers’ trade unions. Qualifying Tekel workers as leftist militants who set complot against the government and who victimize the craftsman with the tents they established in Ankara streets and as persons who demand wages without working, Zaman newspaper formed the reader’s perception framework towards the action in a negative way and is determined to service the dominant ideology. As to Cumhuriyet newspaper, it is observed that it supported working class’ struggle against the hegemony by carrying the action almost every day on the front page in accordance with the point of view of Tekel workers