Words in Time: Diachronicity in Media Discourse on Displacement

ABSTRACT This study proposes a diachronic approach to dissecting media representations of displaced peoples in Türkiye, revealing the dynamic interplay between media discourse, public sentiment, and policies over time. Focusing on four different migration episodes—the Bulgarian Turks and Romani (1950–1951), Iraqi Kurds and Turkmens (1991), and Syrians (2014–2017; 2022–2023)—and presenting findings from a corpus of news texts from two mainstream Turkish newspapers printed over 66 years, it unravels the temporal evolution of narratives surrounding forcibly displaced people and their implications for societal attitudes and legislative actions. In addition to reporting the historical trajectories of reference terms, their frequencies and collocates, we also present extracts illustrating the narratives and themes surrounding the displaced peoples. The diachronic lens we develop as an extension to the discourse historical approach offers insights into the genesis and progression of discourse, allowing us to compare the framing of displaced people from different groups over decades. Our findings reveal that preferential treatment of displaced people is reflected in the naming of displaced people in the news media, fostering environments of societal inclusion or exclusion of migrants. In light of our findings, we argue that a new news‐media policy is needed; one that oversees the equitable representation of migrants in the news.