This study examines the portrayal of Turkey as a potential EU member in the media narrative of Spain’s El País from 1999 to 2010. Spain has been a consistent advocate of Turkey’s possible accession on a political level, and, according to survey data, support from the Spanish population is higher than in most other EU countries. The study investigates how newspaper coverage portrays support for and opposition to Turkey’s bid for membership, and the extent to which the newspaper provides coverage of domestic debate on the issue. Using a Critical Discourse Analysis framework, this article examines the selection of topics and speakers, and identifies the referential strategies and metaphors used to refer to Turkey, Turkish leaders and Turkey’s candidature. The analysis reveals that little domestic debate has evolved on the issue and Turkey, despite official support, is still depicted as Europe’s cultural ‘Other’.
AksoySZ (2009) The prospect of Turkey’s EU membership as represented in the British newspapers The Times and The Guardian, 2002–2005. Journal of European Studies39(4): 469–506.
2.
AlbarranAB (2009) The Handbook of Spanish Language Media. Oxon: Routledge.
3.
AzroutRVan SpanjeJde VreeseC (2011) Talking Turkey: Anti-immigrant attitudes and their effect on support for Turkish membership of the EU. European Union Politics12(3): 3–19.
4.
BruterM (2009) Time bomb? The dynamic effect of news and symbols on the political identity of European citizens. Comparative Political Studies42(12): 1498–1536.
5.
ChiltonPIlyinMV (1993) Metaphor in political discourse: The case of the common European House. Discourse & Society4: 7–31.
6.
ChislettW (2009a) Spanish Trajectory: A Source of Inspiration for Turkey?Istanbul, Turkey: Open Society Foundation.
7.
ChislettW (2009b) The EU’s progress report on Turkey’s accession: Sluggish steps forward. Working Paper No. 145/2009, October, Real Instituto Elcano, Spain.
8.
ChristensenC (2005) Pocketbooks or prayerbeads? US/UK newspaper coverage of the 2002 Turkish elections. Press/Politics10(1): 109–128.
9.
De VreeseCHBoomgaardenHG (2006) Media effects on public opinion about the enlargement of the European Union. Journal of Common Market Studies44(2): 419–436.
10.
De VreeseCHBoomgaardenHGSemetkoHA (2008) Hard and soft: Public support for Turkish membership in the EU. European Union Politics9(4): 511–530.
11.
DrulakP (2006) Motion, container and equilibrium: Metaphors in the discourse about European integration. European Journal of International Relations12(4): 499–531.
12.
EscribanoGLorcaA (2004) The ups and downs of Europeanization in external relations: Insights from the Spanish experience. Perceptions9(4): 131–158.
HülsseR (2006) Imagine the EU: The metaphorical construction of a supra-nationalist identity. Journal of International Relations and Development9: 396–421.
17.
KimSHScheufeleDAShanahanJ (2002) Think about it this way: Attribute agenda-setting function of the press and the public’s evaluation of a local issue. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly79(1): 7–25.
18.
KoenigTMiheljSDowneyJ. (2006) Media framing of the issue of Turkish accession to the EU: A European or national process?Innovations19(2): 149–169.
19.
López GarridoD (n.d.) The Momentum of the Relations between Spain and Turkey. Barcelona: European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), pp. 47–49.
20.
McCombsMEShawDL (1972) The agenda-setting function of the mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly36(2): 176–187.
21.
MaierJRittbergerB (2008) Shifting Europe’s boundaries: Mass media, public opinion and the enlargement of the EU. European Union Politics9(2): 243–267.
22.
MeyerMWodakR (eds) (2001) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: SAGE.
23.
Müftüler-BaçMMcLarenLM (2003) Enlargement preferences and policy making in the European Union: Impacts on Turkey. Journal of European Integration25(1): 17–30.
24.
NegrineR (2008) Imagining Turkey: British press coverage of Turkey’s bid for accession to the European Union in 2004. Journalism9(5): 624–645.
25.
NegrineRKejanliogluBAissaouiR. (2008) Turkey and the European Union: An analysis of how the press in four countries covered Turkey’s bid for accession in 2004. European Journal of Communication23(1): 47–68.
26.
Nieto SolísJA (2007) Europa en la modernización económica de España, 1985–2005 [Europe in economic modernization of Spain, 1985–2005]. In: FornerS (ed.) La construcción de Europa: De las guerras civiles a la unificación [The construcción of Europe: From civil wars to reunification]. Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, Instituto Alicantino de Cultura Juan Gil-Albert, pp. 281–303.
27.
Nieto SolísJA (2009) Fin del dilema ampliación versus profundación de la integración europea: el caso de Turquía [The end of the dilema of enlargement versus a deepening of European integration: The case of Turkey]. Revista de economía mundial22: 101–126.
28.
RichardsonJE (2007) Analysing Newspapers: An Approach from Critical Discourse Analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
29.
SchneebergerAI (2009) Constructing European identity through mediated difference: A content analysis of Turkey’s EU accession process in the British press. Journal of Media and Communication1: 83–102.
30.
SchuckARTde VreeseCH (2006) Between risk and opportunity: News framing and its effects on public support for EU enlargement. European Journal of Communication21(1): 5–32.
31.
ScottM (2004) Wordsmith Tools 4.0. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: http://www.lexically.net/wordsmith (accessed 25 November 2008).
32.
TekinBC (2008) The construction of Turkey’s possible EU membership in French political discourse. Discourse & Society19(6): 727–763.
33.
TekinBC (2010) Representations and Othering in Discourse: The Construction of Turkey in the EU Context. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Van DijkTA (1989) Mediating racism: The role of the media in the reproduction of racism. In: WodakR (ed.) Language, Power and Ideology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 199–226.
37.
Van DijkTA (1995) Discourse semantics and ideology. Discourse & Society6(2): 243–289.
38.
Van DijkTA (2001) Multidisciplinarity in critical discourse analysis: A plea for diversity. In: MeyerMWodakR (eds) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: SAGE, pp. 95–120.
39.
Van DijkTA (2005) Contextual knowledge management in discourse production: A CDA perspective. In: WodakRChiltonP (eds) A New Agenda in Critical Discourse Analysis: Theory, Methodology and Interdisciplinarity. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 71–100.
40.
WalterJAlbertM (2009) Turkey on the European doorstep: British and German debates about Turkey in the European Communities. Journal of International Relations and Development12: 223–250.
41.
WimmelA (2006) Beyond the Bosphorus? Comparing German, French and British discourses on Turkey’s application to join the European Union. IHS Political Science Series Paper no. 111, December. Vienna: IHS.
