Analyzing Media Content in Turkiye and the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic Considering the Dimensions of Quadruple Helix Collaboration Processes

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a very good paper, with a clear methodology and coherent presentation of the content analysis results.

The only suggestion I have is the following:

I think the text needs a few sentences about one key aspect of the study (along with a stronger justification of the choice of countries). It is clear that the author chose the two countries because of their "different cultures and political systems." However, I think one important aspect is that the media systems in these two nations are very different. While this aspect is covered throughout the article (for example, when describing the media outlets chosen for the analysis sample), it's important to have a crisp paragraph somewhere describing the main distinction between the two media systems (a highly captured one versus a liberal, diverse one) with all their implications). Also, I think the findings could be also adjusted a bit (at least in the Conclusions) to have at least a couple of paragraphs just discussing how the type of media system influences news coverage at times of crisis.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The article is good English. I think it would benefit from a bit of editing, mainly for stylistic purposes. But no major problems.

Author Response

[Comment 1]: I think the text needs a few sentences about one key aspect of the study (along with a stronger justification of the choice of countries). It is clear that the author chose the two countries because of their "different cultures and political systems." However, I think one important aspect is that the media systems in these two nations are very different. While this aspect is covered throughout the article (for example, when describing the media outlets chosen for the analysis sample), it's important to have a crisp paragraph somewhere describing the main distinction between the two media systems (a highly captured one versus a liberal, diverse one) with all their implications). Also, I think the findings could be also adjusted a bit (at least in the Conclusions) to have at least a couple of paragraphs just discussing how the type of media system influences news coverage at times of crisis.[Response 1]: Thank you very much for pointing this out. This comment is very valuable. Accordingly, I added a paragraph to the introduction chapter where I explained the differences in the media systems of the UK and Turkiye. I have marked the passage in the text in yellow (lines 68-99). Additionally, I considered the different media systems in the discussion chapter (lines 805, 808-826). 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article does not adequately address the characteristics of the audience or readers. Information about the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of the audience would provide valuable context for interpreting the media content and its potential impact. 3. The study would benefit from a deeper exploration of the nature of information transmission in relation to the chosen themes. Specifically, understanding how information is communicated and received in accordance with communication for change and acceptance logics is essential. This is particularly relevant in the context of using media to influence sustainable behavior during a crisis such as COVID-19. 4. There is some element of subjectivity while presenting  the newspaper that constitutes the corpus of the study that could be mitigated by including paragraphs that provide a historical background of journalism within both countries. Given that the UK and Turkey have different political experiences, this historical context would help readers better understand the media landscapes in both countries. It would also provide a clearer picture of how political history influences media content and journalistic practices, thereby reducing potential biases in the analysis. 5. From line 169 to 171, I think a source is needed to prove the statement.

Author Response

[Comment 1] The article does not adequately address the characteristics of the audience or readers. [Comment 2] Information about the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of the audience would provide valuable context for interpreting the media content and its potential impact.

[Response 1/2] Thank you very your comments. Since we did not proceed with an audience study due to the data available, we did not consider the characteristics of the audience or reader. However, related to your comment, we added in the conclusion chapter a paragraph where we explained the limitations of our study. We understand the media as part of the system media-based and culture-based public considering Luhmann and Carayannis et al.’s Quadruple Helix System. We think that it makes it more clear that the findings of our paper help to design further research, i.e. audience/reader research (lines 858-864).

[Comment 3]. The study would benefit from a deeper exploration of the nature of information transmission in relation to the chosen themes. Specifically, understanding how information is communicated and received in accordance with communication for change and acceptance logics is essential. This is particularly relevant in the context of using media to influence sustainable behavior during a crisis such as COVID-19.

[Response 3]. For the exploration of information and knowledge transfer in the context of COVID-19 we used the quadruple helix model of Carayannis, Barth and Campbell. We discussed it in a detailed way in the Theoretical Background chapter (i.e. lines 145-151). Additionally, we discussed the aspect of knowledge transfer through media with the help of contextualization of the quadruple helix model with Luhmanns’s system theory (i.e. lines 33-44).

[Comment 4]. There is some element of subjectivity while presenting the newspaper that constitutes the corpus of the study that could be mitigated by including paragraphs that provide a historical background of journalism within both countries. Given that the UK and Turkey have different political experiences, this historical context would help readers better understand the media landscapes in both countries. It would also provide a clearer picture of how political history influences media content and journalistic practices, thereby reducing potential biases in the analysis.

[Response 4]: Thank you very much for pointing this out. This comment is very valuable. Accordingly, I added a paragraph to the introduction chapter where I explained the differences in the media systems of the UK and Turkiye. I have marked the passage in the text in yellow (lines 68-99). Additionally, I considered the different media systems in the discussion chapter (lines 805, 808-826).

[Comment 5]. From line 169 to 171, I think a source is needed to prove the statement.

[Response 5]. We totally agree, thank you very much for your valuable recommendation. I added a source which deals with the topic of political parallelism in Turkiye very detailed. It is in the revised paper line 205.