Religion and the News

265 Pages·2012·3.73 MB·English

by  Owen Gower, Jolyon Mitchell

RELIGION AND THE NEWS
In Religion and the News journalists and religious leaders reflect on their
interactions with one another and their experiences of creating news. Through a
series of original contributions, leading practitioners shed light on how religious
stories emerge into the public domain. Experienced journalists and religious
representatives from different faith traditions critically consider their role in a
rapidly evolving communicative environment.
Aimed at journalists, faith representatives, religious leaders, academics and
students this book offers a timely exploration of the current state of religious news
coverage and makes an original contribution to the emerging media, religion and
culture literature, as well as to media and communication studies. Religion and the
News presents insights from leading journalists and religious leaders, many well-
known figures, writing openly about their experiences.
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Religion and the News
Edited by
JOLYON MITCHELL
Edinburgh University, UK
OWEN GOWER
Cumberland Lodge, UK
First published 2012 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2012 Jolyon Mitchell, Owen Gower and the contributors
Jolyon Mitchell and Owen Gower have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Religion and the news.
1. Religion and the press. 2. Mass media—Religious aspects. 3. Journalism, Religious.
I. Mitchell, Jolyon P. II. Gower, Owen.
070.4’492–dc23
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Religion and the news / edited by Jolyon Mitchell and Owen Gower.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-2018-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Religion and the press.
2. Journalism, Religious. I. Mitchell, Jolyon P. II. Gower, Owen.
PN4756.R45 2012
070.4’492–dc23
2012012834
ISBN 9781409420187 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409420194 (pbk)
ISBN 9781315604855 (ebk)
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Contributors ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Introduction 1
Owen Gower and Jolyon Mitchell
SECTION 1: UNdErSTaNdINg rElIgION aNd ThE NEwS
1 Religion and the News: Stories, Contexts, Journalists and Audiences 7
Jolyon Mitchell
2 Religion in the British Media Today 31
Teemu Taira, Elizabeth Poole and Kim Knott
3 Religion, News and Social Context: Evidence from Newspapers 45
Robin Gill
4 A Relationship Worth Getting Right 61
Paul Woolley
SECTION 2: COvErINg rElIgION
5 What the Media thinks about Religion: A Broadcast Perspective 79
Christopher Landau
6 Mirrors to the World 89
Ruth Gledhill
7 Networked Religion 99
Charlie Beckett
8 Religion and the Specialist Press 107
Catherine Pepinster
9 Cumberland Blues 117
Andrew Brown
vi Religion and the News
SECTION 3: rEprESENTINg rElIgION aNd ThE NEwS
10 Islam and the News 129
Monawar Hussain
11 Speaking on behalf of God ... 139
Jonathan Romain
12 Respect, Religion and the News 147
Indarjit Singh
13 Popular Media, News and Religion 153
Roger Royle
14 Reconciling Religion in Worlds of Violence 161
Ruth Scott
SECTION 4: CONTESTINg rElIgION aNd ThE NEwS
15 Religion and New Media: Changing the Story 173
Simon Barrow
16 Taking Offence: Free Speech, Blasphemy and the Media 183
Jonathan Heawood
17 Law, Religion and the Media: More Spinned Against than Spinning? 193
Mark Hill
18 Towards a Theology of News 203
Richard Harries
19 Conclusion: The Futures of Religion and the News 211
Jolyon Mitchell and Owen Gower
Select Annotated Bibliography 219
Teemu Taira and Jolyon Mitchell
Index 243
List of Figures
Front Cover. Montage: Courtesy of Shutterstock and jannoon028 (hand touching
flow of images), Korionov (man holding camera), Ryan Rodrick Beiler (a minaret
of the King Hussein Mosque and the steeple of the Coptic Orthodox Church
silhouetted on the Amman skyline) and (Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and the
Western Wall), Schmid Christophe (Christ, Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil),
kbrowne41 (woman in traditional middle eastern niqab veil), Micha Rosenwirth
(planet earth), with thanks to David Wright and Brian Fischbacher.
Back cover. A group of photographers focusing down towards the viewer. Courtesy
of Losevsky Pavel / Shutterstock.com
SECTION 1: Understanding Religion and the News
Figure 1 IPad and IPhone. Courtesy of Shutterstock, with thanks
to David Wright. 5
Within Chapter 1
Figure 2 Occupy London protest and camp at St Paul’s Cathedral in
London, England on 5 January 2012. Courtesy of Alison
Henley / Shutterstock.com. 10
Figure 3 Photographers and a cameraman record doors re-opening at
St Paul’s Cathedral, 28 October 2011, Courtesy of Press
Association Images / Matt Dunham. 12
Figure 4 Occupy protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral with the artist
Banksy’s donation, 31 October 2011 in London. Courtesy of
yampi / Shutterstock.com. 15
Figure 5 Mac Cartoon from Daily Mail, 26 October 2011. Courtesy of
the Daily Mail and Mac (Stan McMurty). 28
Within Chapter 2
Figure 6 Media references to religion, 1982–1983 and 2008–2009. 33
Figure 7 Media references to religion and the secular sacred,
2008–2009. 34
Table 1 References to different religions on television and in the
newspapers. 36
viii Religion and the News
Figure 8 Newspaper references by type, 2008–2009. 39
Figure 9 Television references by type, 2008–2009. 40
SECTION 2: Covering Religion
Figure 10 A group of photographers focusing down towards the viewer.
Courtesy of Losevsky Pavel / Shutterstock.com. 77
SECTION 3: Representing Religion and the News
Figure 11 A crowd of pilgrims, spectators and others in St Peter’s Square,
Rome, close to a large television screen showing Benedict XVI
and Cardinals during the beatification of John Paul II on 1 May
2011. Giuseppe Fucile / Shutterstock.com. 127
SECTION 4: Contesting Religion and the News
Figure 12 Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall, seen
through barbed wire. Holy Sepulchre church is outside the
frame. Courtesy of Ryan Rodrick Belier / Shutterstock.com. 171
Within the Conclusion
Figure 13 Rio de Janeiro. View of Christ the Redeemer Statue on
Corcovado Mountain and Radio and Television aerials in
Tijucia National Park. Courtesy of Celso Diniz /
Shutterstock.com. 212
List of Contributors
Simon Barrow is co-director of the beliefs and values think-tank Ekklesia. He has
worked both for denominational and ecumenical church structures, nationally and
internationally, and for traditional and digital media as a news reporter, columnist
and commentator. He acts as an adviser and consultant for religious bodies seeking
to engage the media, and for media operators seeking to come to terms with
religion.
Charlie Beckett is the founding director of Polis, the media and society think-
tank at the London School of Economics. He is the author of SuperMedia: Saving
Journalism So It Can Save The World (Blackwell 2008) and WikiLeaks: News in
the Networked Era (Polity 2011). Before setting up Polis in 2006 he was an award-
winning filmmaker and editor at LWT, BBC and ITN’s Channel 4 News.
Andrew Brown is a journalist, writer and broadcaster. He most recently founded
and edits the Guardian’s belief site, which won a Webby award for the best
religion site in the world after six months of operation. He has written two books
of popular science, The Darwin Wars (2000), and In the Beginning was the Worm
(2003), which was shortlisted for the Aventis prize for science writing; his book
about Sweden, Fishing in Utopia (2008), won the Orwell prize in 2009.
Robin Gill held the Michael Ramsey Chair in Modern Theology at the University
of Kent for twenty years having previously been the William Leech Professorial
Fellow in Applied Theology at the University of Newcastle. He continues as
Professor of Applied Theology at Kent. His most recent books are Theology in
a Social Context: Sociological Theology Volume 1, 2012, Theology Shaped by
Society: Sociological Theology Volume 2, September 2012 and Society Shaped
by Theology: Sociological Theology Volume 3, Spring 2013, all published by
Ashgate.
Ruth Gledhill has been at The Times since 1987 and has reported on every
significant religious story and witnessed many dramatic changes in the field. She
has also written many feature and comment pieces for The Times, has edited books
of prayers and sermons, wrote the At Your Service column for eleven years and
ran the Preacher of the Year Award. She has been quick to keep up with technical
developments and her blog, Articles of Faith, is regularly listed on a number of
sites as among the top ten newspaper and religion blogs. She has been nominated
three times in the UK Press Awards and other nominations include the Andrew
Cross Award for religious reporting.