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ABSTRACT
This study explores the representation of interpreters in the Turkish news media by analysing the online editions of the three most circulated Turkish newspapers between June 2017 and March 2021. It looks at what triggers a media discourse on interpreters and how interpreters are represented in the news media. It also juxtaposes the current portrayal of conference and diplomatic interpreters with the media coverage of conference interpreters in two previous studies. The results indicate that although references to interpreters working in legal settings are by far the most numerous, these references are almost always in passing, giving interpreters in these settings no visibility or voice. The same applies to interpreters working in refugee settings. In contrast, news items on sign language and football interpreters accord significant visibility and voice to these interpreters. News reports on conference and diplomatic interpreters, on the other hand, seem to reflect a marked shift towards negative coverage, characterised by the absence of interpreters’ voices and a media discourse that contests their neutrality, the latter view of interpreters being at least partly related to political tensions in the country.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplemental data
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2022.2105677
Notes
1. These years can be considered the ‘blooming’ years of the profession. In the aftermath of the civilian takeover from the military in 1983, Turkey transitioned to market liberalisation policies, which significantly increased international exchanges and ‘not only transformed the economic field, but also the spheres of politics, culture, and foreign policy initiatives’ (Öniş Citation2004, 1).
2. See Appendix for the links to the news items. ‘Hu’ refers to news items in Hürriyet, ‘Sa’ in Sabah and ‘So’ in Sözcü.
3. A conspicuous aspect of the news items on TSL courses was the impression they gave of the ease with which TSL could be learned. There were references to ‘5-day accelerated trainings’ (Sa8) to learn TSL as well as to ‘120 hours’ to become an SLI (Sa9). A rare exception to this was a news article about a platform where deaf trainers said they taught how to sign like the Deaf (Hu9).
4. Although the news coverage on technology was grouped under ‘Others’ and not analysed as a distinct setting in this study, it is interesting to note that the media generally seemed quite positive about new technologies as potential ‘replacements’ for human interpreters (So22-24, Sa50-51).
5. Here and throughout the article, translations of news excerpts are by the author.
6. Sözcü, as an oppositional paper, raised this point very directly (So10-11). Hürriyet, on the other hand, raised it indirectly by quoting both the CNN’s suspicions on why there were no interpreters (Hu15) as well as the Turkish President’s spokesperson on why having no interpreters was justifiable (Hu15-16). Quite tellingly, the pro-government Sabah did not report on this issue at all.
7. Jürgen Klopp’s relationship with interpreters is interesting, as he seems to regularly place interpreters in the spotlight, by demonstrating extreme praise or anger and even by sexualising the male interpreters. At a press meeting, the video of which went viral around the world, Klopp refers to his male interpreter’s voice as ‘erotic’. The spotlighting of his performance carries the interpreter to fame, triggering news reports on and interviews with ‘the interpreter Klopp made famous’. These further attest how an association with a ‘hegemonic male’ can transform the status of an interpreter (see, for instance, https://tr.sputniknews.com/spor/201811301036410854-klopp-un-meshur-ettigi-cevirmen-futbol-tercumanliginin-sirlarini-paylasti/).
8. Accessible as photo (05) at https://www.tktd.org/kupur-arsivi/ (Last visited on 10 June 2021), see also pictures 27 and 30.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ebru Diriker
Ebru Diriker is Professor of Interpreting Studies at Boğaziçi University, Course Director at York University, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa. She is an experienced conference interpreter and has published extensively, mainly on the sociological aspects of interpreting.