Türkiye’deki İletişim Çalışmaları Alan Yazınında Podcast: Bir Kapsam Analizi
Podcast in the Communication Studies in Turkey: A Scoping Review
Yazar: Özkan Sev, Çiğdem
Dergi: Intermedia International E-journal, Vol. 11 No. 21, 2024
Anahtar kelimeler: Communication Studies ; İletişim Çalışmaları ; podcast,scoping review,communication studies ; podcast,kapsam analizi,iletişim çalışmaları

Ses ve anlatıya dayalı, kendine has kültürel üretim ve tüketim pratiklerine sahip podcastleri, yeni medya ekolojisinin yükselen mecrası olarak nitelendirmek mümkündür. 2000’li yılların başında ortaya çıkan bu mecra, eğitim alanındaki kullanımlarıyla yaygın olarak ele alınmış, Türkiye’de ise iletişim akademisi tarafından son 5 yılda incelenmeye başlanmıştır. COVID-19 pandemisinin zorunlu kıldığı kapanma koşulları, mecranın Türkiye’de bilinirliğini artırmış; bireyler bu dönemde yalnızlıklarını dindirmek, psikolojik destek almak ve kaliteli vakit geçirmek gibi nedenlerle podcastlere yönelmiştir. Bu çalışma, iletişim yazınına yeni giren podcastlerin araştırmacılar tarafından nasıl ele alındığını, hangi boyutlarıyla incelendiğini ve bu alan yazının gelecekteki yönünü tespit etmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Alan yazının haritasını sunmayı hedefleyen çalışma, keşifsel nitelikte ve kapsam analizi olarak tasarlanmıştır. Kapsam belirleme analizi olarak da anılan bu yöntem, bir araştırma alanıyla ilgili mevcut kaynak, kavram ve bulguların haritalandırılarak araştırma yelpazesini belirlemeyi, alan yazındaki boşlukları görünür kılmayı ve gelecek çalışmalar için yeni rotalar oluşturulmasını sağlamaktadır. Bu doğrultuda çalışmada, akademik makaleler, tezler ve tam metni yayınlanmış bildirilerden oluşan 32 yayın, podcastleri ele alma biçimleri, araştırma tasarımları, yıllara ve türlerine göre dağılımları ile ortak temalar bakımından analiz edilmiştir. Buna göre iletişim çalışmaları alan yazınında podcastler konu dağılımlarına göre; podcast içeriklerine, podcast kullanım alışkanlıklarına, podcast üretim pratiklerine yönelik olanlar ve podcasti tanıtıcı ve kuramsal açıdan ele alan çalışmalar olmak üzere dört madde ile kategorize edilmiştir. İncelemeye göre, podcastler üzerine en fazla yayının 2022’de yapıldığı ve çalışmaların ağırlıklı olarak araştırma makalesi olduğu görülmüştür. Yayınlarda podcastleri açıklamaya, gazetecilik ve kurumsal fayda başta olmak üzere çeşitli kullanımları incelemeye odaklanıldığı, mecraya özgü anlatı pratiğine ilginin ise düşük olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Podcasts, which are based on sound and storytelling and have unique cultural production and consumption practices, can be characterised as the rising new medium of the new media ecology. As they contain audio content, podcasts have been explained in terms of radio in these early periods of its emergence with expressions such as “radiogenic” (Berry, 2006, p. 155) and “radiophonic” (Dubber, 2013, p. 56). Although this medium, which uses the principle of content distribution through RSS technology, is similar to radio in carrying audio content, it differs from radio in embracing both technology and genres based on personal narrative.This medium, which emerged in the world in the early 2000s, has been widely discussed, especially in the field of education, and has only started to be discussed by academics in Turkey who are focused on communication in the last 5 years. Especially the lockdown conditions during COVID-19 pandemic have led to an increase in the awareness of the medium in Turkey, and individuals have turned to podcasts for reasons such as relieving their loneliness, getting psychological support and spending quality time during this period when they cannot socialise. This study tries to determine how podcasts, which have recently entered the literature of communication studies, have been handled by researchers, which dimensions have been analysed, and the future direction of this developing literature. In this direction, the study, which aims to reveal the map of the existing literature and is exploratory in nature, was designed as a scoping analysis.The study adopted the 5-stage scoping framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005, pp. 8-9) and followed the PRISMA-ScR (PRISMA scoping extension) flow diagram proposed by Peters et al. (2015, p. 144). Accordingly, the study is designed as a scoping review to answer the following questions:1. What is the nature of the studies on podcasting in the communication studies literature in terms of their characteristics and methodologies?2. What is the contribution of these studies to the communication studies literature?3. How can the related literature be improved within the scope of these studies?In the study, 32 academic articles, theses, dissertations and full-text published papers were analysed in terms of how they address podcasts, their research designs, their distribution according to years and types, and the common themes found in the studies. Accordingly, podcasts in the communication studies literature were categorised into four items according to their subject distribution: (1) podcast content, (2) podcast usage habits, (3) podcast production practices and (4) studies that deal with podcasting from an introductory and theoretical perspective. According to the analysis, it was determined that most publications on podcasts were made in 2022, and the studies were mostly research articles. The general tendency of the podcast medium in the communication studies literature in Turkey is to examine the opportunities created by podcasting and the innovations it brings by exploring the practices of using and producing content for the medium, thus understanding the medium better. In addition, podcasts have been discussed in terms of advertising, corporate communication, digital public relations and political communica-tion capacity. Most studies examining podcast content have tended to classify podcasts based on qualities such as genre, frequency, length, content producer, purpose, etc.  When the studies investigating podcast usage habits are examined, it is seen that the themes of “learning something” and “having fun, having a good time” are at the top of the list as the reasons why participants listen to podcasts; there is a tendency to listen to podcasts while doing other things, podcasts provide listeners with the freedom to consume content wherever and whenever they want, content diversity and ease of consumption are common themes associated with the nature of podcasts. When the studies on production practices are examined, it is found that podcasters consider the medium as an alternative medium where they can broadcast freely and independently.Another theme that draws attention in the related studies is the expectation that podcasts have sincere language and a conversational texture. The fact that themes such as “intimacy, personal narrative, personalisation,” which have risen with podcasting, are covered in detail in a few studies point to the gap in the Turkish literature on this theme, which is frequently addressed in international literature. It is possible to say that podcast studies in Turkey need researchers' interest in the unique narrative forms of the medium and the relationships and interactions established through narrative, as well as explaining the medium in various dimensions and examining its production-use practices.