Halil Saç’s traineeship concluded 

The Social Communication Research Centre hosted Halil Saç, PhD student and research assistant at the Department of Journalism at Ankara University (Türkiye), as a trainee under Erasmus+ Traineeship Mobility Programme, with the guidance of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jernej A. Prodnik.

During his stay, from August 18 to November 12, 2025, he conducted the research focusing on how user-generated content instrumentalised by the mainstream media impacts the prevalence of politics, economy, and social issues news categories, which can influence citizens’ public sphere practices. Halil also attended the Political Economies of the Media Summer School in Šibenik and presented a paper addressing this topic.

During his traineeship, he acquired proficiency in MAXQDA, used for mixed-method and qualitative data analysis, and in NodeXL, used for network analysis and visualisation by processing sample data. Furthermore, he strengthened his understanding of the literature on the public sphere and the media. He also co-authored a book on the political economy of communication, which is currently in progress.