Journalists’ views on the British coverage of Turkey’s EU bid and the clash of civilizations thesis

Turkey’s bid to join the European Union (EU) and the surrounding discussions in European countries’ national media have been receiving increasing interest since Turkey became an official EU membership candidate in 1999. However, almost all academic work concerning the topic examines only the media coverage. In contrast, this article looks at journalists’ views on the media content about Turkey, and also discusses the clash of civilizations thesis as a frame to understand the media discourse. Twenty-one journalists who work or had worked in various British media outlets participated in semi-structured interview sessions. The data was conceptualized and categorized with the help of qualitative analysis software NVivo. Findings are presented through two main sections: Journalists’ views on the decrease in Turkey–EU relations’ popularity in the British media and the changes in the content; and the clash of civilizations thesis in the context of Turkey’s EU bid. Journalists’ views on the coverage reveal that their approach to Turkey’s EU bid is in line with the general view of the British media. In addition, the findings show that the clash of civilizations paradigm is used as a tool for British politicians and the British media to expose their support for Turkey’s EU bid.