The Power of the Media on Forming Public Opinion The Analysis of the 2010 Constitutional Referendum in Turkey

Today, the media is one of the most powerful and indispensable part of our lives. Also, the media has an extensive effect on people in individual and social dimensions in many aspects and forming public opinion is one of the most distinctive of these effects. This study is carried out to seek answers to the questions of how and to what extent the media can be influential in political decision making processes of people. Especially, focusing on the media effects on the referendum voting rather than elections also makes this study unique. For this purpose, surprising results are obtained in the study in which qualitative and quantitative methods are blended together on the example of Turkey.