This study aims to question the watchdog function of the Turkish press in
the context of the coronavirus crisis, to
deal with the initial coronavirus responses of the news media, and to examine the extent to which the press fulfills
its public responsibility and watchdog function. Accordingly, it discussed the role of the media in protecting the public interest in terms of watchdog
journalism and centered on the matter of how
the news media debate social welfare measures taken for the fragile social groups during the coronaviruses
crisis. The study claims that pro-government media present a health-based
perspective, but anti-government media much more point out the socio-economic dimensions of COVID-19. The
online newspapers that are selected according to the range of different political stances, in particular,
anti-government and pro-government, have been investigated through
content analysis in terms of content diversity and watchdog journalism. Thus, it has been determined whether watchdog journalism is fulfilled in such a polarized political environment in the
context of news on COVID-19 and concluded that the news media ignore social
policy measures, are polarized along political lines, and are not critical
enough of the government.
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