Changing media representations
of religion and the secular sacred
1982-2010
Kim Knott and Teemu Taira
Religion in the media: assumptions
• As society has become more secularized, media coverage of religion
has declined and been marginalized (Holmes).
• Because of their commercial interests and priorities, the media are
only interested in bad news and controversy about religion (various).
• The media’s reporting of religion is unfair and inaccurate because of
the secularity of media professionals who have no interest in religion
or are biased against it (Marshall et al, 2009).
• Religion is ‘positioned, represented and constructed as a minority
interest’ by the media (Woodhead, 2012).
• ‘Contemporary religion is increasingly mediated through secular,
autonomous media institutions, and is shaped according to the logics
of those media (Lövheim and Lynch, 2011).
• The media have become ‘a form of religion in themselves’ (Davie,
2002).
Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred
1982-83 and 2008-10, University of Leeds
Two research projects the aims of which were,
• to analyse portrayals of popular religion and
the secular sacred in a selection of British
newspapers and terrestrial TV channels to
examine media representations of religious
issues, beliefs and practices and to uncover and
interpret inherent media values and interests
• to examine people’s reception and experience
of religion in the media
• to analyse the mass media treatment of a
widely reported event or controversy involving
religion
• to compare findings from the two projects
And to consider media
representations of religion
and their reception in light
of theoretical debates
about secularization and
re-sacralization, to see
what’s changed.
Comparative quantitative analysis
1982-83
2,453 references (one month’s newspapers and
one week’s TV)
______________________________________
2008-09
4,370 references* (one month’s newspapers and
one week’s TV)
* Larger newspapers; similar
number of TV refs in both periods
Conventional and common religion,
and the secular sacred
• Conventional religion: official, organised religion, e.g.
Protestantism, Church history, Islam, religious cosmology,
religious practice.
• Common religion: unofficial, unorganised belief and
practice, e.g. magic, psychic powers, fortune telling,
mythology.
• Secular sacred: organised and unorganised secular
ideologies, beliefs and values, e.g. secularism, atheism,
human rights, sacredness of life or nature.
References to conventional and common religion and
the secular sacred, 1982-3 and 2008-9 (%)
Comparative analysis, 1982-3, 2008-10:
Christianity
Comparative analysis, 1982-3, 2008-10: Islam
Comparative analysis, 1982-3, 2008-10
Secular sacred
Comparative analysis 1982-3, 2008-10
Common Religion*
Islam in the newspapers, 2008
Topic
Number of articles
Conflict
23
Terrorism
19
Extremism
14
Cultural/legal differences
8
Politics
6
Anti racism
4
Art
3
Women/Gender
3
Community Relations
3
Immigration
2
Religious Practice
1
Relationships
1
Total
87
How are Muslims constructed in the media coverage?
• There is some
acknowledgement of
moderate Muslims in the
conservative press but
Muslims are mainly
conceptualised in their
extreme form as ‘preachers
of hate’.
• There is little alternative
discourse in the conservative
press (mainly in the form of
letters).
• The liberal press and BBC
provide some room for
alternative views and
Muslim voices.
Conservative media discourse on Christianity
2008-10
• Society is losing its moral fabric: Christianity/Christian
leaders are flawed moral guides
• Christianity is a fundamental part of British tradition
and identity
• Christianity is marginalised/persecuted by the secular
state as a result of equality legislation, political
correctness and the increasing ‘Islamification’ of
society
Britain perceived to be Christian first, then secular and
plural
Liberal media discourse on Christianity
2008-10
• Religion should be a personal matter, but faith-based
organisations may have role to play in public life
• Christianity is just a minor player in contemporary
cultural diversity
• We are increasingly secularised and Christianity is in
decline
• Christianity is morally and intellectually irrelevant and
moribund
• Christianity is illiberal and an obstacle to the human
rights agenda
Britain is perceived to be secular and plural first, and
only notionally Christian
Christian continuities
• Dominance of Christianity,
particularly with reference
to heritage and landscape
• Representations of clergy
in fiction and comedy
• Language infused with
references to Christian
concepts and practices, as
well as to common
religion
Atheism and secularism
•
•
•
•
Recent rise of both
Celebrity atheists
Polarization of atheism and religious identities
Atheism often conflated with a scientific approach and
explanation
• Media support for secularism and Christianity, but not
atheism which is often depicted as aggressive (and seen
as barking mad by tabloid press)
Visiting Popes, 1982 and 2010
• In 1982 we concluded that the TV portrayal of the papal
visit was the nation’s experience of the papal visit.
Television provided access to the Pope for the majority
of the population, challenging our conception of both
the gap between representation and reality, and of the
negative relationship between media and religion. It was
no different in 2010.
• We saw the media construction of two different Papal
personalities: charismatic (John Paul II); shy and
thoughtful (Benedict XVI).
• The Papal message changed from ecumenism in 1982 to
the marginalisation of Christianity in 2010. The media –
rather than the Pope – added interfaith issues to the
agenda.
• This was framed in the media as a schism between
‘people of faith’ and ‘atheists and secularists’, and was
one of the main differences to 1982 when the dominant
discursive frame juxtaposed Catholics and Protestants,
with ecumenism the bridge between the two.
Religion in the media: assumptions
• As society has become more secularized, media coverage of religion
has declined and been marginalized. NO
• Because of their commercial interests and priorities, the media are
only interested in bad news and controversy about religion. NO
• The media’s reporting of religion is unfair and inaccurate because of
the secularity of media professionals who have no interest in religion
or are biased against it. NO, though not really discussed
• Religion is ‘positioned, represented and constructed as a minority
interest’ by the media. YES and NO
• ‘Contemporary religion is increasingly mediated through secular,
autonomous media institutions, and is shaped according to the logics
of those media. YES
• The media have become ‘a form of religion in themselves’. NO