Page 249 - Religion, Media, and the Public Sphere

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Fig. 11.3. Talk-show host Ayse Özgün.

people” or “people who are in very dif¤cult economic circumstances” or “people
who live in villages” by raising questions that begin with the words, “What
about those people . . . ?” So there are always disadvantaged “others” whom
“we” need to think about (“others” who are also watching the program). These
are “our other people” (bu insanlarimiz), who might ¤nd the ongoing discussion
either too abstract or irrelevant. So Ayse Özgün is concerned about sending “the
right message” to “these people.” 13
The “studio audience,” chosen to simulate “a bus full of people in Istanbul”
(according to Ayse Özgün), sit in rows facing the front. On Friday mornings only
a selected few stand up to ask questions individually (obviously coached), rather
than engaging in discussion among themselves. Most of the time they are “quiet
moral sitters,” facing Yasar Nuri Öztürk.
Yasar Nuri Öztürk sits behind a small desk throughout the program, rarely
moving until he begins to talk. In the opening long shots, he appears dwarfed
by the large bouquet of fresh ®owers placed on the desk, totally incongruous
against the background of wallpaper decorated with leaves, butter®ies, and the
program logo—Ayse Özgün’s own signature blown up in pink—with a generic
music reminiscent of soap operas. But as the camera moves in to show him
close-up and he begins to answer, explain, and elaborate his arguments, he is
transformed into a ¤gure of immense power. Thus when the studio audience

238 Ayse Öncü