Talk radio, Interactivity and Counterpublic
Sphere in Southeast Turkey*
Ece Algan, Department of Communication Studies
The University of Iowa
Ece Algan is Assistant Professor in the Communication
Studies Department at the University of Iowa. Her research interests
include the globalization of media and culture, media ethnography,
the impact of new media technologies in Turkey, and the role
of global and local media in Turkish women's negotiation and
reinterpretation of patriarchy, traditions and gender identities.
Her recent work appears in Political Communication and Journal
of Radio Studies. She also has chapters in the books The
Globalization of Corporate Media Hegemony (SUNY Press) and Global
Media Studies: Ethnographic Perspectives (Routledge).
Abstract: Drawing from
the author’s fieldwork
experience in the underdeveloped southeastern Turkish city of
Sanliurfa, this paper explores how interactive local radio, despite
its commercial character, constitutes an alternative medium for
the young to communicate and be heard. In a region where traditions,
the feudal social structure, and the strict interpretation of
Islam put extreme pressures on use of the public sphere for social
interaction and result in many rigorous constraints on the lives
of the young, radio plays a crucial role in alleviating these
constraints by functioning as a public sphere. Although marriages
are arranged, dating is not tolerated, and unmarried women and
men cannot enjoy conversation in the public spaces of Sanliurfa,
the young manage to experience love and dating via the messages
they send through arabesque song requests and conversations with
radio DJs. Many stories are told in Sanliurfa about radio functioning
as a matchmaker. For many youth, these message exchanges encourage
independent romantic/emotional development outside the strictures
of traditional arranged pairing, they provide a forum for criticism
of traditional thinking and matrimonial customs, and they keep
young people informed about their peers’ struggles with
love. Through in-depth interviews with radio listeners in Sanliurfa
and analysis of their interactions via radio, this paper examines
interactive local radio’s role in young people’s
exploration of their sexuality and gender identities and attempts
to overcome traditional restrictions and social norms. This paper
concludes by discussing the complexity of radio’s role
as a public sphere and what constitutes an alternative use of
commercial media.
[Friday, February 4; 4-5:30
PM; 302 Schaeffer Hall]
