Concerns of Foreign Radio Listening in Turkey From National Integrity to the Cultural Corruption

Abstract

Radio listening was formed by the political, social and economic transformations of the 20th century. A significant part of the discussion and policies on the radio listening emerged around national needs and concerns during this process, in which the nation states are the main actors. These concerns have especially emerged around the listening of the foreign radio stations since 1930s when the political nature of radio has become more evident in the international arena and it began to be used as a propaganda tool. These concerns has more significantly appeared in the countries which could not develop the radio broadcasting and expanded entire population in this period. In this study, the shaping of concerns on foreign radio listening in the context of national unity and the construction of national identity concerns in Turkey between 1940s and first years of 1970s are examined. The reasons to be a source of concerns of foreign radio listening in Turkey and the political and social roots of these concerns are questioned within the framework of the link which is established between nation and radio listening. It is suggested that this attitude on foreign radios is considered to be closely linked to the process of construction of national identity and objectives of national develoment/progress in the context of Western oriented policies. In this regard, a critical historical interpretation is made within the framework of occidentalism and development pradigm.