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NEWSPAPER IDEOLOGY: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF NEWS

HEADLINES ON SYRIAN REFUGEES IN PUBLISHED NEWSPAPERS

Article in Turkish Studies · September 2016

DOI: 10.7827/TurkishStudies.9930

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 Turkish Studies
International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic
Volume 11/15 Summer 2016, p. 541-552
DOI Number: http://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.9930
ISSN: 1308-2140, ANKARA-TURKEY

Article Info/Makale Bilgisi

 Received/Geliş: 26.08.2016 Accepted/Kabul: 28.09.2016
 Referees/Hakemler: Prof. Dr. Mehmet Dursun ERDEM – Doç. Dr.
Ahmet AKKAYA

This article was checked by iThenticate.

GAZETE İDEOLOJİLERİ: BASILI GAZETELERDEKİ SURİYELİ

SIĞINMACILAR HAKKINDAKI HABERLERİN ELEŞTİREL
SÖYLEM ANALİZİ

Ömer Gökhan ULUM*

ÖZET
Söylem yazarın metin yoluyla okuyucuya vermek istediği mesajlar
içerir. Bir metnin gerçekte okuyucusuna ne aktardığı söylem analizi
yoluyla açıklanır. Belirli bir metin yoluyla aktarılan ve ideolojik eğilimleri
yansıtan her mesaj söylem içerisinde derin noktalara temas eder. Bir
başka değişle söylem, dünyaya dair belirli düşünceleri beyan eden ve
aktaran araçlar olarak fonksiyon gösteren metinler üzerine kuruludur.
Söylem içerisinde var olan mesajları anlamak insanın iç dünyasını
anlamak anlamına gelir. Söylem analizi özellikle insani ve sosyal
bilimlerde kullanılmaktadır. Söylem analizinin uygulandığı dallardan biri
de gazeteciliktir, çünkü gazetecilik bilgi aktarımı sanatının uygulandığı
bir alandır. Gazeteciler kendi okuyucularına belirli mesajları aktarmak
ve kendi ideolojilerini yaymak için belirli kelimeleri özellikle seçer ve
kullanırlar. Medya yoluyla iletişim son zamanlarda dilbilimsel
araştırmaların ilgi odağı olmuştur. Geleneksel bir bilgi aktarma yolu
gazete yayıncılığıdır. Lakin gazete gibi iletişim araçlarındaki ifade
biçimleri gazeteden gazeteye değişmektedir. Örneğin başlık ifadeleri
gazete ideolojilerini içinde barındıran bazı özellikler taşır. Bu araştırma
eleştirel bilimin bir açısı olan, insanların ve kurumların dili kullanma
biçimlerini irdeleyen ve gazete başlıklarını Eleştirel Söylem Analizi
bakımından inceleyen gazete analizlerini içermektedir. Diğer başka bir
değişle, bu çalışma farklı kültürlerden gazete ideolojilerini
incelemektedir. Çalışma sonucunda anlaşılmıştır ki batı medyası
meseleye fazla sayıdaki Suriyeliyi Avrupa sınırlarının nasıl kaldıracağı
açısından bakarken, Türk medyası meseleye Suriyelilerin içinde
bulunduğu kötü koşulları göz önünde tutarak bakmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: söylem, eleştirel söylem analizi, gazeteler,
başlıklar, Suriyeli Sığınmacılar

* Okt. Adana Bilim ve Teknoloji Üniversitesi, Yabancı Diller Yüksek Okulu, E-posta: omergokhanulum@gmail.com
542 Ömer Gökhan ULUM

NEWSPAPER IDEOLOGY: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

OF NEWS HEADLINES ON SYRIAN REFUGEES IN PUBLISHED
NEWSPAPERS

ABSTRACT
Discourse refers to what an author signifies by means of a text or
what a text really conveys to its reader. Whatever is transmitted through
a specific text may address to deeper points referring to ideological
intendments. In other words, discourse is grounded on how texts
function as meanings of manifesting or prescribing precise perspectives
about the world. Recently, communication through media has been the
focus of attention in linguistic research. A traditional way of transmitting
information is through newspaper broadcasting. Yet, the style of
expression employed in such a communication tool as a newspaper
changes remarkably from source to source. Headline expressions for
instance bare some characteristics inside by keeping the ideology of the
newspapers. This study presents an analysis of newspapers from the
aspect of Critical Discourse Analysis of newspaper headlines, which is an
angle in critical scholarship: an approach of analyzing the style that
people or institutions practice language. In other words, this cross-
cultural study investigates the ideologies of the newspapers from different
cultures. At the end of the study, it was understood that while western
editors approach to the issue by looking at the problem in terms of how
Europe can withstand such a high flow of Syrians into the union, Turkish
media sees the issue referring to the fact that Syrians on the way to
Europe are in hard conditions.

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT
The term discourse is used in many ways, as well as in diverse
functions for a long time (Bloor and Bloor, 2013). It is described as what
the author means through a text and what a text actually means to a
reader. Certainly, what we try to say through a particular text may well
refer to wider issues such as social and ideological meanings inside, and
another concept referred by discourse is truly based on how texts can be
a way of expressing, and imposing specific ways of thinking about the
world (Widdowson, 2007). Discourse analysis clearly addresses to the
analysis of the employed language (Brown and Yule, 1983). One desiring
to understand human beings has to see discourse; therefore the available
uses of discourse analysis are almost countless (Johnstone, 2008).
Besides, journalism is an area in which we practice the art of data
circulation. Journalists particularly pick out vocabulary that would
transfer peculiar meanings to their intended readers. Our study is a
critical Discourse Analysis of news headlines of different papers about
Syrian Refugees. Thus, this study examines the differences of various
headlines with their respective ideologies. Furthermore, this study
analyses newspaper headlines by using a multidisciplinary method of
discourse study called critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings will
have great value as an exploratory study on the ideological characteristics

Turkish Studies
International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic
Volume 11/15 Summer 2016
Gazete İdeolojileri: Basılı Gazetelerdeki Suriyeli Sığınmacılar Hakkındaki Haberlerin… 543

of newspapers. At the same time, the findings will stand as a data-base

for discourse studies in language departments. They may also be used to
recommend ways to enhance students’ reading ability. Moreover, the
findings of the study will be a guide for EFL teachers in their attitude
towards teaching reading.
Discourse analysis is used scholarly in particularly humanities and
social sciences. The assumption of such analyses is that ideologies of
authors or reporters may be brought to light by attentive reading,
understanding or systematic analysis, if language users consciously or
unconsciously assert their own ideologies by means of language and
communication (Van Dijk, 1985). Within this study, we employed
Discourse Analysis Approach to analyze newspaper headlines of various
newspapers from diverse communities. Yet, our study is only limited to a
limited number of newspapers from English, German, and Turkish
newspapers. Therefore, the data collected may have represented the
contents of a broader range of newspapers.
To compare and contrast the headlines in various newspapers in
press, the data for this study has been collected from 6 German
Newspapers, 10 English Newspapers, and 16 Turkish Newspapers. The
corpora included 51 newspaper headlines from 7 English, 6 German, and
14 Turkish newspapers. The rationale for this research is to find out the
different representations of the news of Syrian refugees in different
newspapers. That’s to say, it would explore the different perspectives of
different newspapers through headlines. This Critical Discourse Analysis
describes the way in which same news is represented in diverse
newspapers from cross-cultural communities. In other words, a Critical
Discourse Analysis Method was employed in this study, to have a broad
view of meanings lying under each headline of national and international
newspapers. Results of the data were clarified in terms of the journalistic
characteristics of three different communities from cross-cultures. All the
data which emerged from our discourse analysis were employed in the
inferential component of data analysis. Furthermore, linguistic features
of headlines which are depicting the ideologies of the different
newspapers were given.
To sum up, this study examined how ideologies are constructed by
news headlines through the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis of
newspapers. It was observed that English, German, and Turkish
newspapers have given special coverage to the news of Syrian war victims
forcing the borders of Europe. The use of plain headline was of maximum
practice in both national and international newspapers covering English,
German, and Turkish media. However, while the western media (English
and German) focuses on the issue from the perspective of risks that
Syrians may possibly carry to Europe Union, the Turkish media focuses
on the issue from a different perspective in which the tragedy of Syrians
is the key point. The overall study can be summarized by suggesting that
critical discourse analysis provides researchers with the opportunity to
display the undiscovered ideologies or messages existing in seemingly
plain texts.
This study has also witnessed how ideology functions in the
formation of newspaper headlines and found out that newspaper

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Volume 11/15 Summer 2016
544 Ömer Gökhan ULUM

headlines not only have common rhetorical characteristics, but also have
specific hidden ideologies behind the text. Therefore, on the formation of
news headlines, while western editors approach the issue by looking at
the problem in terms of how Europe can withstand such a high flow of
Syrians into the union, Turkish media sees the issue referring to the fact
that Syrians on the way to Europe are in hard conditions (Hasan, 2010).
Our Critical Discourse Analysis study has uncovered this key ideology
which was hidden for a common reader.
Keywords: discourse, critical discourse analysis, newspapers,
headlines, Syrian refugees

1. Introduction
Discourse concept has been employed in various functions for a long time (Bloor and Bloor,
2013). It refers both to what the author means through a text and what a text actually means to a
reader. Definitely, what someone tries to say through a specific text may well refer to wider concerns
like social and ideological meanings inside, and another term addressed to discourse is truly based
on how texts can be a way of expressing, and imposing particular ways of thinking about the world
(Widdowson, 2007). Discourse analysis undoubtedly means the analysis of used language (Brown
and Yule, 1983). He, who desires to comprehend human beings, has to see discourse; therefore the
possible uses of discourse analysis are nearly countless (Johnstone, 2008). Discourse analysis is a
fast developing and progressing area of study (Schiffrin, Tannen, and Hamilton, 2008). When the
language in use, that’s to say, the language which is real and which is employed by people in the real
world, is taken into consideration, the reality that language is highly more than just the sum of the
linguistic ingredients that compose it. Discourse refers to language in context, and context covers
people’s background knowledge, beliefs, intentions and expectations. Besides, context is a
functioning and alive which changes itself, as well as changing our relationships with other
individuals while we construct the social practices of the environment. Discourse analysis is studied
by those in diverse academic areas such as linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, and
related fields. This broad variety in such fields has led to an identically broad diversity of objectives
and approaches to discourse analysis, and it is commonly identified that there is not one rational
theory or just one definition. A definition of discourse is the use of language above sentence level.
Additionally, each occupation owns its speaking manner and writing way: its own register and
practices for the formation of discourse examiner. For instance, it employs a language in a way that
most ordinary people may find incomprehensible. There is no doubt that when a professional talks
to a non-professional, their language use might be a hinder: there is an imbalance between the
knowledge, background level and comprehension of the members in the field; and as the speech
exchanges, a disparate power or authority is formed and sustained (Woods, 2014). Social institutions
include various ‘ideological-discursive formations’ (IDFs) referring to diverse groups within the
institution, and there is generally one leading IDF. Every IDF is a kind of ‘speech community’ with
its peculiar discourse patterns and ideological norms. Institutional matters are built, in the same
manner with the criterions of an IDF, in subject positions whose ideological foundations they may
not know. A feature of a leading IDF is the capability to conform ideologies (Fairclough, 2013). To
sum up, discourse analysis focuses on the study of the connection between language and the contexts
in which it is employed. It emerged from work in various field of studies in the 1960s and early
1970si covering semiotics, linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and sociology. Language in use is
studied by discourse investigators through all types of written texts, and spoken data (McCarthy,
1991; Ulum, 2015). Substantial analyses are definitely formed in detail through only a short segment

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Volume 11/15 Summer 2016
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of the full picture. Yet, any discourse analysis should refer to the whole picture (Gee, 2014). Taking
all these points into consideration, in this study a critical analysis of the language of journalism was
introduced. Journalistic discourse owns highly peculiar textual features and approaches of text
production (and consumption), and is explained by specific ties between itself and other channels of
typical and material power. These features of the language of journalism are obviously reciprocal
and occasionally hard to disconnect (Richardson, 2006).
Aim of the Study
Journalism is a field in which people practice the art of data circulation. Journalists
specifically select words that would transfer particular meanings to their intended readers. This study
is a critical Discourse Analysis of news headlines of different papers about Syrian Refugees.
Therefore the study examines the differences of the various headlines with their respective
ideologies.
2. Significance of the Study
This study analyses newspaper headlines by using a multidisciplinary method of discourse
study called critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings will have great value as an exploratory
study on the ideological characteristics of newspapers. Furthermore, the findings will stand as a data-
base for discourse studies in language departments. They may also be used to recommend ways to
enhance students’ reading ability. Besides, the findings of the study will be a guide for EFL teachers
in their attitude towards teaching reading.
3. Limitations of the Study
Ideological analysis of language and discourse is employed scholarly in especially
humanities and social sciences. The assumption of such analyses is that ideologies of authors or
reporters may be brought to light by attentive reading, understanding or systematic analysis, if
language users consciously or unconsciously assert their own ideologies by means of language and
communication (Van Dijk, 1985). Within this study, we employed Discourse Analysis Approach to
analyze newspaper headlines of various newspapers from diverse communities. Yet, our study is
only limited to a limited number of newspapers from English, German, and Turkish newspapers.
Therefore, the data collected may have represented the contents of broader range of newspapers.
4. Methodology
To compare and contrast the headlines in various newspapers in press, the data for this study
has been collected from 6 German Newspapers, 10 English Newspapers, and 16 Turkish
Newspapers. The corpora included 51 newspaper headlines from 7 English, 6 German, and 14
Turkish newspapers. The rationale for this research is to find out the different representations of the
news of Syrian refugees in different newspapers. That’s to say, it would explore the different
perspectives of different newspapers through headlines. This Critical Discourse Analysis describes
the way in which same news is represented in diverse newspapers from cross-cultural communities.
That’s to say, a Critical Discourse Analysis Method was employed in this study, to have a broad view
of meanings lying under each headline of national and international newspapers. Van Dijk (1985)
states that indeed, in spite of the common suppositions, the theory about underlying ideologies is far
from being clear-cut and we are not much aware of how specifically ideologies are formed through
discourse, or how they affect text or speech. Yet, in this study, discussions of some particular matters
that have been neglected in the employment of ideological discourse analysis were put forward. In
brief, the research aims of this very specific study are to find out the different representations of the
same news item ‘’Syrian Refugees’’ in national and international newspapers. The research data is
analyzed through Critical Discourse Analysis of media. The approaches of Olowe (1993), Van Dijk

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(2000), and Van Dijk (2013) on text analysis were utilized in order to examine the required data. At
linguistic level, news headlines on Syrian Refugees were analyzed from four aspects as passivization,
topicalization, information, evaluation and judgement, while the next coming analysis was done at
surface level.
5. Data Analysis and Results
The discourse analysis contained categorizing headlines into English, German, and Turkish
newspapers. Results of the data were then clarified in terms of the journalistic characteristics of three
different communities from cross-cultures. All the data which emerged from our discourse analysis
were employed in the inferential component of data analysis. Furthermore, linguistic features of
headlines which are depicting the ideologies of the different newspapers were given. The following
categories of headlines and their descriptions bring a light in terms of the mentioned aspects.
5.1. Surface Structure Classification of News Headlines
Plain headlines addresses to simple statements related to a social issue in written media. The
research method of this study is to discover the unseen meanings in apparently plain text. These are
headlines that utter a sole idea or more. They are given in simple statements and they often employ
distinct and short words. The text employed for newspaper discourse may seem simple, yet it always
bears complex ideological aspects. Besides, Speech as headlines refers to direct or reported speech
of the individuals. In such cases, the names are also reported which provides the credibility of the
news more. Furthermore, Headlines with pointers hints on headlines, the information of which is
clarified by a pointer. The headline includes two parts and the first part covers words making reader
be aware about the comments discussed in the news afterwards. Moreover, Question as Headlines is
in the form of questions coming under the heading of interrogative headlines.
Table 1
English Newspapers
Headline
Surface Structural Categorization
Germany Imposes Border Controls (September 15,
Plain headline
2015, USA Today)
America should do its part, accept more Syrian refugees
Headline with pointer (View)
(September 15, 2015, USA Today)
Refugees Bring Security Risks (September 15, 2015,
Plain headline (Opposing View)
USA Today)
Europe Tightens Borders (September 15, 2015, The
Plain headline
Wall Street Journal)
Influx forces Merkel into about-face on borders
Plain headline
(September 15, 2015, International New York Times)
Syrian refugees in Turkey 'denied access to lawyers and
specialized medical care' (May 17, 2016, The Plain headline
Telegraph)
State Department sets new single-day record for Syrian
refugee approvals (May 24, 2016, The Washington Plain headline
Times)
The Latest: Human Rights Watch: 165,000 Syrians
Speech as headline
Trapped at Turkish Border (May 27, 2016, ABC News)
Syrian refugees will cost ten times more to care for in
Europe than in neighboring countries (May 13, 2016, Plain headline
Independent)

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Almost all of these headlines of English newspapers are plain headlines which are simple
statements describing the migration of the Syrian refugees in a simple way. But there are some hidden
ideologies even in these headlines. Clearly these headlines seem to be neutral but we can highlight
some hidden ideologies. Here lies the ideology of the news editors: in the newspaper USA Today,
the editor gives a view and an opposing view side by side, as seen in Table 1. Besides, in ABC News,
the editor gives a speech as headline. However, a high majority of English newspapers refer to plain
headlines.
Table 2
German Newspapers
Headline
Surface Structural Categorization
Flüchtlingsgipfel im Kanzleramt/Prime Ministry
Refugee Summit (September 15, 2015, Süddeutsche Plain headline
Zeitung)
Sperrzone Europa/Super Zone Europe (September 15,
Plain headline
2015, Frankfurter Rundschau)
Das neue Europa der Grenzen/New Europe Borders
Plain headline
(September 15, 2015, Handelsblatt)
Flüchtlings – Drama spaltet Europa!/Refugee Dram
divides Europe! (September 15, 2015, Bild- Plain headline
Bundesausgabe)
Grenzenlos war gestern/Borderless yesterday
Plain headline
(September 15, 2015, Die Welt Kompakt)
Europa am Ende seiner Kräfte/Europe has come to the
Plain headline
end of its power (September 15, 2015, Die Welt)

Upon looking at German newspapers, we can clearly see that plain headlines are employed
in all the analyzed newspapers. As critical discourse analysis was used in this study, regarding the
hidden meaning in the headlines of German newspapers, we can say that German newspapers
employed a plain language in their headlines to enlighten their target readers about the issue of Syrian
refugees.
Table 3
Turkish Newspapers
Headline
Surface Structural Categorization

Growing Syrian crisis push more refugees to set off on

perilous journey to Europe (September 16, 2015, Daily Plain headline
Sabah)
EU fails to reach refugee quota deal, tougher measures
Headline with pointer
in store (September 16, 2015, Daily Sabah)
More migrant deaths trigger border march (September
Plain headline
16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)
Syrian migrants flock to Turkish border with Greece
Plain headline
(September 16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)
22 migrants drown in Aegean (September 16, 2015,
Plain headline
Hürriyet Daily News)
Germany: EU refugee quotas ‘disgraceful’ (September
Speech as headline
16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)

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Mülteciler yaya kaldı/Refugees stayed on foot

Plain headline
(September 16, 2015, Güneş)
Yürüyerek Avrupa yoluna düştüler/They set off the
Plain headline
Europe road on foot (September 16, 2015, Güneş)
Meçhule Göç/Migration to Unknown (September 16,
Plain headline
2015, Star)
Kara Göç/Black Migration (September 16, 2015, Star) Plain headline
Avrupa yarı açık cezaevi: Sınırlar kapandı/Europe is
semi-open prison: Borders were blocked off (September Headline with pointer
16, 2015, Star)
Avrupa’ya kanıp yollara düştüler/Believing Europe, they
Headline with pointer
set off the journey (September 16, 2015, Akşam)
Twitter Göçü/Twitter Migration (September 16, 2015,
Plain headline
Akşam)
3. Viyana Kuşatması/3. Vienna Siege (September 16,
Plain headline
2015, Takvim)
Yeni Yöntem! Avrupa’ya yaya akını başladı/New
Method! Pedestrian rush to Europe has started Headline with pointer
(September 16, 2015, Takvim)
İnsan tacirleri yine öldürdü/Human traders killed again
Plain headline
(September 16, 2015, Takvim)
Dağ taş mülteci/Refugees all around (September 16,
Plain headline
2015, Meydan)
Umut yolu yarım kaldı/The road of hope stood half
Plain headline
(September 16, 2015, Meydan)
Edirne’ye akın/Rush to Edirne (September 16, 2015,
Plain headline
Vatan)
Umut yürüyüşü/Walking for hope (September 16, 2015,
Plain headline
Vatan)
Otoyolda Göç/Migration on the motorway (September
Plain headline
16, 2015, Hürriyet)
Trajik Geçiş/Tragic Passing (September 16, 2015,
Plain headline
Hürriyet)
Batı’nın Yeni Nazi Almanyası/New Nazi Germany of
Plain headline
the West (September 16, 2015, Milat)
Ege’de 24 kurban- TEM’de umuda akın/24 victims in
Aegean sea- Rush on the Tem Motorway for hope Headline with pointer
(September 16, 2015, Sabah)
Göçmenlerin umut yolculuğu battı- 24 kişi
öldü/Migrants’ journey for hope sank - 24 people died Headline with pointer
(September 16, 2015, Sabah)
Edirne’ye büyük mülteci yürüyüşü/Big refugee walk to
Plain headline
Edirne (September 16, 2015, Sabah)
1900 Yolu/The Road 1900 (September 16, 2015, Haber
Plain headline
Türk)
Akın akın Avrupa’ya yürüyorlar/They are flowing into
Plain headline
Europe (September 16, 2015, Haber Türk)
Trajedi Denizi/The sea of Tragedy (September 16,
Plain headline
2015, Haber Türk)
Deniz yoluyla gitmek ölüm dediler, Almanya’ya
ulaşmak için yürümeye karar verdiler./ They told that
Speech as headline
voyage means death, so decided to walk to arrive in
Germany. (September 16, 2015, Haber Türk)

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Avrupa hayali Edirne’de bitti/The dream of Europe

Plain headline
ended in Edirne (September 16, 2015, Türkiye)
Mülteciler sınırı zorluyor/Refugees are forcing the
Plain headline
borders (September 16, 2015, Türkiye)
Boğulmak istemiyoruz/We don’t want to be drowned
Speech as headline
(September 16, 2015, Milliyet)
Umut yolcuları Ege’ye gömüldü/Walkers of hope sank
Plain headline
into Aegean sea (September 16, 2015, Milliyet)
Boğulmaktan korkup Edirne’ye dayandılar/Being afraid
of sinking, reached Edirne (September 16, 2015, Headline with pointer
Milliyet)
Yolda ölmek istemiyoruz, açın kapıları geçelim/We
don’t want to die on the road, open the gates and let us Speech as headline
pass (September 16, 2015, Milliyet)

By looking at Turkish newspapers, one can easily understand that the most employed
headline type is plain headline (25), while the next coming most frequent headline type is headline
with pointer (7). Besides, the least frequent headline type is speech as headline (4). In Turkish
newspapers, three types of headlines are observed, though at differing frequencies.
5.2. Linguistic Features of Headlines in Presenting Ideologies
There are certain linguistic features of the headlines of Imran Khan’s peace march towards
Waziristan which depicts the ideologies of different newspapers.
5.2.1. Topicalization
Topicalization is a significant characteristic of news headlines and it stands as an indicator
for the picture of the ideology of the editors. In this study, the headlines written in national and
international newspapers have portrayed the elements of the issue of Syrian refugees and those words
are used topicialized which serve the above mentioned purpose.
English newspapers:
 Germany Imposes Border Controls (September 15, 2015, USA Today)
 Europe Tightens Borders (September 15, 2015, The Wall Street Journal)
 Influx forces Merkel into about-face on borders (September 15, 2015, International New
York Times)
German newspapers:
 New Europe Borders (September 15, 2015, Handelsblatt)
 Borderless yesterday (September 15, 2015, Die Welt Kompakt)
 Prime Ministry Refugee Summit (September 15, 2015, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
Turkish newspapers:
 More migrant deaths trigger border march (September 16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)
 Black Migration (September 16, 2015, Star)
 We don’t want to die on the road, open the gates and let us pass (September 16, 2015,
Milliyet)

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Here the ideologies of the news editors are presented. It is clearly understood from the hidden
messages beyond the headlines that while English and German newspapers deal with the border of
Europe or the hard situation of Europe as a result of refugee flow, Turkish newspapers put great
emphasis on the poor condition of the Syrian refugees who are having really hard times on the way
to Europe
5.2.2. Passivization
Just to create curiosity among their readers or to form assumptions about the news,
newspapers may delete the agency of the headlines. In this study, the agency is absent in the headlines
of particularly Turkish newspapers.
 More migrant deaths trigger border march (September 16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)
 Migration to Unknown (September 16, 2015, Star)
 Europe is semi-open prison: Borders were blocked off (September 16, 2015, Star)
 Rush to Edirne (September 16, 2015, Vatan)
 The dream of Europe ended in Edirne (September 16, 2015, Türkiye)
5.2.3. Information
The information carried by the newspapers in the current study presents different ideologies
of editors. Information is the fundamental issue of the news headlines. The headlines of the
newspapers analyzed in this study contained the information regarding the issue of Syrian war
victims. While the eastern newspapers approach to the issue from the perspective of Europe’s
problematic condition of borders, the Turkish newspapers approach it from the side of the Syrians’
hard situation, by means of giving necessary information to support their ideologies.
 The Latest: Human Rights Watch: 165,000 Syrians Trapped at Turkish Border (May 27,
2016, ABC News)
 22 migrants drown in Aegean (September 16, 2015, Hürriyet Daily News)
 24 victims in Aegean sea- Rush on the Tem Motorway for hope (September 16, 2015,
Sabah)
 Migrants’ journey for hope sank - 24 people died (September 16, 2015, Sabah)
6. Discussion and Conclusion
Discourse Studies (Gül, 2007; Sakal, 2007; Şen, 2008; Durmuş, 2009; Eliuz, 2009; Kılıç,
2009; Öncül, 2009; Reis, 2009) refers to a term in which the focus is based on the related discourse,
clearly hinting on the hidden discourse. Similarly, Critical Discourse Analysis is an area of research
study which supplies opportunities for the analysts to reveal the hidden ideologies behind simple
words (Taiwo, 2007). While there are a number of studies on CDA (Roohani and Esmaeili, 2010;
Ghannam, 2012; Mahfouz 2013; Sajid, 2013; Adelakun, 2014; Agu, 2015), this study examined
specifically how ideologies are constructed through news headlines through working within the
framework of Critical Discourse Analysis of newspapers. It was observed that English, German, and
Turkish newspapers have given special coverage to the news of Syrian war victims forcing the
borders of Europe. Over all the use of plain headline was maximum practice in both national and
international newspapers covering English, German, and Turkish media. However, while the western
media (English and German) focuses on the issue from the perspective of risks that Syrians may
possibly carry to Europe Union, Turkish media focuses on the issue from a different perspective in

Turkish Studies
International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic
Volume 11/15 Summer 2016
Gazete İdeolojileri: Basılı Gazetelerdeki Suriyeli Sığınmacılar Hakkındaki Haberlerin… 551

which the tragedy of Syrians is the key point. The overall study can be summarized by suggesting
that critical discourse analysis provides researchers with the opportunity to display the undiscovered
ideologies or messages existing in seemingly plain texts. This study has witnessed how ideology
functions in the formation of newspaper headlines and found out that newspaper headlines not only
have common rhetorical characteristics but also specific hidden ideologies behind the text. Therefore,
on the formation of news headlines, while western editors approach to the issue by looking at the
problem in terms of how Europe can withstand such a high flow of Syrians into the union, Turkish
media sees the issue referring to the fact that Syrians on the way to Europe are in hard conditions
(Hasan, 2010). Our Critical Discourse Analysis study has uncovered this key ideology which was
hidden for a common reader.
7. Implications for Teaching
In advanced reading classes, in order to activate the background knowledge of the students
or in order to make students to have a general idea of what the reading text is about, they may be
asked about the headline of the reading text as a pre-reading activity. Asking such a question may be
a very beneficial warm-up activity for the students. Through focusing on the headline of the reading
text, the students activate their schemata and may discover the required points in the text. By time,
students can even get the hidden messages given in the headlines such as diagnosing the view of the
author. It would provide great benefit to use authentic news taken out of English newspapers and use
them in advanced reading classes. In such a class, students may be directed to get the gist of the text,
or even to get the hidden messages given in the text through headlines.

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Citation Information/Kaynakça Bilgisi

Ulum, Ö.G. (2016). “Gazete İdeolojileri: Basılı Gazetelerdeki Suriyeli Sığınmacılar Hakkındaki
Haberlerin Eleştirel Söylem Analizi / Newspaper Ideology: A Critical Discourse Analysis of
News Headlines on Syrian Refugees in Published Newspapers”, TURKISH STUDIES -
International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic-,
ISSN: 1308-2140, (Prof. Dr. Kamil Veli Nerimanoğlu Armağanı) Volume 11/15 Summer
2016, ANKARA/TURKEY, www.turkishstudies.net, DOI Number:
http://dx.doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.9930, p. 541-552.

Turkish Studies
International Periodical for the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or Turkic
Volume 11/15 Summer 2016

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