Religion in the British Media Today

Taira, Teemu; Poole, Elizabeth; Knott, Kim

Abstract

How is religion represented in British media today? In this chapter, Taira, Poole and Knott provide a detailed answer, based on their research into television and newspaper reporting of religion in 2008–10. As well as surveying references to conventional religion, Taira, Poole and Knott also chart references to ‘common religion’ (things like fate, angels and luck) and references to the ‘secular sacred’ (things like human rights and freedom of choice). The resulting statistical picture contains some surprises. There are more references to religion on British television and in British newspapers today than there were twenty years ago. Other statistics are less surprising: our newspapers and television programmes reflect the increasing ethnic and religious diversity of the UK, and contain more references to Islam and the ‘secular sacred’ than twenty years ago, with much coverage of the former characterised by negative stereotyping.

Citation

Taira, T., Poole, E., & Knott, K. (2012). Religion in the British Media Today. In Religion and the News. (1). Taylor & Francis (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315604855-4

• Online Publication Date: Apr 8, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 30, 2012
• Deposit Date: Oct 20, 2023
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Edition: 1
• Book Title: Religion and the News
• Chapter Number: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315604855-4
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315604855-4/religion-british-media-today-teemu-taira-elizabeth-poole-kim-knott?context=ubx&refId=5d0a0a5d-715a-4c60-8227-2b4b0aa9423c
• Additional Information: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315604855/religion-news-owen-gower-jolyon-mitchell?_ga=1766953676.1665997703&_gl=1*1jbosd4*_ga*MTc2Njk1MzY3Ni4xNjY1OTk3NzAz*_ga_0HYE8YG0M6*MTY5Nzc5NDQ5My40Ny4wLjE2OTc3OTQ0OTguMC4wLjA.