Baby Face of a Natural Disaster: Kindchenschema in a Disaster Media Reporting Case Database

This study explores how Sabah Daily, a government affiliated media outlet, used children-related content as a rhetorical device in its coverage of the February 6th, 2023 Kahramanmaraş, Turkey earthquake to influence public perception. By analysing these portrayals through the lens of Kindchenschema -infantile features that evoke positive sentiments- the study examines whether Sabah Daily framed children to shape sentiment and deflect criticism from the government’s disaster response. A comparative analysis with Sözcü Daily, a government-critical media outlet, was conducted using a two-phase approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods, tailored from the Directed Qualitative Content Analysis approach. Although the language and visual rhetoric in both outlets were remarkably similar, the frequency of children-related posts diverged significantly. Findings show that Sabah Daily significantly outpaced Sözcü Daily in the frequency of children-related posts during the first five days post-disaster, suggesting a deliberate agenda-setting strategy. The ethical and political implications of this divergence are discussed, with recommendations for further research into media-driven reality construction during crises.

本研究旨在探讨政府关联媒体机构《Sabah日报（Sabah Daily）》在报道2023年2月6日土耳其卡赫拉曼马拉什地震时，如何将涉儿童内容作为修辞手段以引导公众舆论。本研究以唤起积极情感的婴儿特征——婴儿图式（Kindchenschema）为分析视角，考察《Sabah日报》是否通过对儿童形象的框架建构，来塑造公众情绪并转移外界对政府救灾响应的批评。本研究采用结合定性与定量方法的两阶段分析框架，该框架源自定向定性内容分析（Directed Qualitative Content Analysis）方法，并与持政府批评立场的媒体《Sözcü日报（Sözcü Daily）》开展对比研究。尽管两家媒体的语言与视觉修辞风格高度相似，但涉儿童帖文的发布频率存在显著差异。研究结果显示，震后前五日内，《Sabah日报》涉儿童帖文的发布频次显著高于《Sözcü日报》，这表明其采取了刻意的议程设置策略。本研究还讨论了这一差异背后的伦理与政治意涵，并提出未来可围绕危机期间媒体驱动的现实建构开展进一步研究的建议。