Zöhre Akyol / Özge Cengiz
Abstract: This study analyzes pesticide-related news published between August 2024 and August 2025 in Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Sözcü, and Habertürk newspapers through content analysis, revealing how pesticide and food safety issues are framed in the media in terms of discourse and representation. Examining 169 news items, the research evaluates the types of sources used, actor representations, linguistic characteristics, and the presence of solution proposals. The findings show that official institutions and international organizations are the most frequently featured actors, while farmers, civil society organizations, and local actors are represented only to a limited extent. The absence of sources information in nearly one-third of the news points to issues of verifiability and transparency. In most cases, pesticides are mentioned only indirectly, with health-related harms emphasized while environmental and economic impacts remain in the background. Solutions are mostly presented at the individual level, with structural or scientific proposals being limited. Overall, current media practices appear inadequate in fostering public awareness and encouraging critical inquiry on pesticides and food safety, instead legitimizing dominant institutional discourses.
Keywords: Pesticide, Food safety, Media, Agricultural policy, Agricultural journalism
Zöhre Akyol / Özge Cengiz
DOI: 10.29224/insanveinsan.1793320
Issue 41, Winter 2026
Tam metin / Full text
(Turkish)
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