Religion in American Newspapers

1
Religion in American Newspapers

• A Critique and Challenge

University of Rochester April 30, 2003
2
Purpose

• To analyze what Americans learn about religion
  from reading the newspaper.

3
Newspapers

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• The Boston Globe
• The Chicago Tribune
• The Dallas Morning News
• The Denver Post
• The Los Angeles Times

• The New York Times
• The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
• The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• USA Today
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post

4
Religion is Mentioned Far More Often Than it is
the Subject of a Story.

• Religion Stories 1,402
• Religion Mentions 4,918

5
Religion is Widely Used as a Criterion of
Identity.

• To add important information to the article
• Superfluous identity markers
• Negative stereotype identity markers

6
Religion Stories Most Frequently Describe
Religion in Political and Legal Terms.

• 49 included references to political, legal, and
  criminal activities
• 20 were exclusively political or legal
• 28 discussed religious beliefs and values
• 10 were exclusively beliefs and values

7
Coverage of the Religious Lives of
African-Americans, Hispanics, and Women is
Disproportionately Low.

• 51 of Americans are women
• 12 are African-American
• 14 are Hispanic
• Cities with high minority populations still
  contained few religious references to these
  communities

8
Coverage of Islam is Disproportionate to the
Percentage of Muslims in the U.S. Its Coverage
is Predominantly Associated With Criminality and
Bad Deeds.

• 1 of Americans are Muslim
• 74 of Americans are Christian
• Islam appears in 2,231 mentions vs.
  Christianitys 3,822
• Islam appears in 331 stories vs. Christianitys
  960

9
Roman Catholicism is More Often Linked With Bad
Deeds and Criminality Than With Catholic Beliefs
and Values.

• 31 of stories about Catholicism referenced bad
  deeds and criminality
• In The Boston Globe, 47 of stories about
  Catholicism referenced bad deeds and criminality

10
Coverage of Protestantism, Judaism, and Other
Religions is More Balanced Than Coverage of
Catholicism.

• Protestantism and Judaism stories generally
  included good deeds, practices, beliefs and
  values
• Protestantism is underrepresented in terms of the
  percentage of the American population

11
Coverage of Religion in Response to Tragedy and
Death was More Generic Than Particular.

• Several tragedies gained national attention
  Columbia space shuttle, Providence and Chicago
  nightclub disasters
• News coverage focused on general religion rather
  than discrete rituals and teachings

12
Coverage of the Iraqi War Presented Religious
Anti-war Views More Prominently Than Pro-war
Views.

• Anti-war coverage principally invoked religion to
  justify opposition
• Pro-war coverage cited politics, safety, and
  public opinion to support its position

13
Print Popularization of Some Religious Terms is
Widespread. However, These Terms are Often Used
Incorrectly.

• Sporting messiah
• Zen Master
• Ad gurus
• Tao of Yao

14
Religion Sections Appear in a Minority of
Newspapers. These Sections Treat Religions in
Depth, and Show How Beliefs, Values, and
Practices Relate to and Influence Their Readers
Lives.

• Two papers with self-contained religion sections
  Dallas Morning News, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• Three papers with 1-2 religious pages Chicago
  Tribune, L.A. Times, Washington Post
• Religion sections are a model for the coverage of
  religion

15
Some Newspapers Reflect Better Than Others Their
Community, Nation, and Religions Beliefs,
Values, and Practices.

• Coverage of religion does not necessarily reflect
  regional demography
• There are important regional differences in the
  balance between the coverage of religion in terms
  of beliefs and values and political/legal issues
• However, in all papers, the quantity of coverage
  devoted to bad deeds outweighs that of good deeds

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Recommendations

• Remember that context is key to the complete
  reporting of a story.
• Distinguish between the group and the action.
• Consider Religion Sections.
• Accentuate religion close to home.
• Be balanced in terms of coverage.
• Reflect a newspapers region and country.
• Develop a means of obtaining advice and expertise
  about religion.

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Directed by Professors William Scott Green and
Curt Smith
Research Assistant and Teaching Fellow Todd
Hildebrandt
Research Team Participants

• Aaron Anderson
• Meghan Barritt
• Stacey Rae Benner
• Corinne Carpenter
• Gregg Chesney
• Maxwell Cooper
• Melissa Dupere
• Jonathan Ferland
• Melissa Gonzalez
• Bryan Gross
• Talia Guttin
• Rebecca Kanengieter
• Shahrzad Kardonni
• Amy Kuenzi
• Meghna Kumar

• Jessica Maglietto
• Ryan Montgomery
• Hannah Newborn
• Joseph Ortunno
• Valerie Palermo
• Jonathan Rettinger
• Andrew Rosenthal
• Brian Scharfenberg
• Adam Sherman
• Theresa Spaulding
• Nicole Strait
• Jessica Torrence
• Teresa Tygert
• Matthew Willyard

WRITING TEAM