Content Structure of University Radio Stations in Turkey As Part of Their Broadcast Policy

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent university radio stationsin Turkey are an alternative to popular, commercial radio stations by analyzingthe program content and general approaches within the framework of theirmusic and program policies. Using the qualitative research method, in-depthinterviews were carried out with the employees and representatives of 25 publicand 9 foundation university radio stations across various regions and differentcities of Turkey. Twenty university radio stations were examined on site by directobservations and face-to-face interviews, and we interviewed the representativesof 14 university radio stations via telephone or video communication. Allinterviewees were asked the same semistructured questions. Furthermore, thesupervisors of the 11 sample radio stations who archive their programs regularlyselected some of the programs and shared their archives with the researchers.These selected programs were analyzed in terms of the duration of talk andmusic, and categorized according to the production elements. It was found thatuniversity radio stations in Turkey have problems with content production forvarious reasons and are exposed to certain restrictions. Therefore, in contrast tointernational practices and the existing literature, they have content similar to thatof commercial radio stations, rather than broadcasting alternative content

Perspectives of University Radios on Informative Broadcasting Contents: A Comparative Study Between Australia And Turkey

Being structured far from its traditional functions, and correspondingly, providing mostly music and entertainment-based content to its listeners, current radio broadcasting content has been frequently criticized by academic circles. Especially in Turkey, the majority of radios keep broadcasting popular music, entertainment, and daily comedy programs while ignoring informational fields such as news, education, culture, and arts. Even university radios, each of which should be structured as an alternative broadcasting practice, often broadcast with a style similar to popular/common radio formats. This necessitates to question the reasons underlying this situation and the approaches of university radios to instructive and informative broadcasting. Within the study, university radios in Australia which have a powerful educational and community broadcasting tradition, and those in Turkey which are rapidly increasing in number and most of which are seeking its direction, were examined in terms of their perspectives on informative broadcasting practices. In this context, face-to-face in-depth interviews were carried out with 2SER of Macquarie University and University of Technology Sydney, 2NUR of Newcastle University, 3RRR which received its first license in Royal Melbourne Technology Institute, CURTIN Radio of Curtin University, and SURG of The University of Sydney. Also, face-to-face in-depth interviews with official executives of selected state and foundation universities in Turkey including Anadolu University, Istanbul University, Ankara University, Bahçeşehir University, and Koç University were conducted. Data analyzed with a descriptive approach showed that radios in Australia having flexible and rich facilities in terms of financial and human resources as well as strong community support are able to produce more instructive and informative content. While university radios in Turkey display different trends from each other regarding content structuring, the ones in Australia have adopted principles of community broadcasting described as a third model. University radios in Turkey do not have a holistic approach to alternative broadcasting practices

History of university radio broadcasting in Turkey and its struggle for legal existence

University radio broadcasting, whose first examples in Turkey date back to the 1940s, made its main leap forward with the emergence of private radio broadcasting in the early 1990s and the increase in the number of communication and broadcasting schools at different levels. Largely unable to exist legally except for a few exceptions, university radio stations have had to deal with many problems from the first examples until today. In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with the representatives and employees of university radio stations affiliated with 34 universities in Turkey. We found that the lack of a legal basis for university radio stations causes various problems in practice. The most important of these problems include the following: first, the practices of frequency allocation and usage fees by relevant authorities are not conducted in compliance with certain standards. Financial return models are rigid and limited; the production efficiency of a radio station is interrupted when university financial support or station management is irregular or insufficient, as well. As a result, employees experience a loss of motivation in the management and content production stages

Sweeping the Traces of Habermasian Public Sphere in University Radio Stations: A Research from Turkey

This study focuses on freedom of expression among university radio stations in Turkey. Our aim is to reveal the obstacles university radio stations face in speaking freely and to propose a solution to them. We take our conceptual framework from the Habermasian public sphere and focus on the practice of speaking on the radio. Using a qualitative analysis method, we conducted in-depth interviews with the managers of 34 university radio stations in 21 different cities in Turkey. We found that there are many obstacles to freedom of speech facing university radio stations in Turkey