Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 6 2010

ErdoÄ?an the most popular leader in media last year, report shows

A recently released report has shown that the Turkish prime minister
was covered more than any other politician in the country in media
coverage in 2009.

The report, drafted by the Media Monitoring Center (MTM), determined
the most popular public figures in the country by looking at the
number of news stories in which they are mentioned. The center divided
the `Champions of the Media in 2009′ into several categories,
including politics, sports and social life.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an was mentioned in 421,251 separate
news stories in the media, maintaining his popularity in media
coverage in 2009. The prime minister appeared most in news stories
covering the government’s Kurdish initiative, several coup attempts,
the country’s normalization process with Armenia and his walkout from
a Davos panel discussion after the moderator gave him less time to
speak than was allowed Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the report says,
ranked first as the political party with the most media coverage last
year. The AK Party appeared in 379,066 news stories carried by Web
sites, newspapers, weeklies and TV stations, 7 percent more than that
in 2008.

The ruling party was not alone, however. Turkish media interest in the
main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) also increased in
2009. News related to the CHP rose by 60 percent in the last year,
totaling 325,748 news stories making mention of the CHP.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) came in third, the report
indicates. A particular increase was observed in the number of news
about the MHP in July, when 58 party members resigned from their posts
in the party to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the party’s
uncompromising stance towards the government’s Kurdish initiative.

06 January 2010, Wednesday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL