Abstract
In this study’s second empirical chapter, I address the questions of to what extent the four dimensions of the democratic approach are employed and which of these dimensions are absent from British and Turkish newspapers. I provide and compare quantitative data and 87 qualitative examples about the meta-frames and frames of religion overall, Christianity, and Islam in British and Turkish newspapers. This combination of quantitative data and qualitative examples brings the richness and depth of the research findings to the fore. I highlight three key findings from the meta-frame analysis. First, British and Turkish newspapers demonstrated a contrasting attitude to the dominant and the minority religions. Second, in both countries, despite the contrasting framing of the minority religions, even the dominant religions had a disproportioned employment of the four meta-frames, or they did not receive recognition of the importance of faith, its values, and practices in everyday life for their followers. Third, the different patterns of religion coverage in the four meta-frames show the proposed democratic approach’s potential for recognising all views and values. I discuss and compare all the findings with previous research on religion in the news and journalism studies.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
It is important to note that there can be about one-percent differences in the percentages about the overall employment of meta-frames between Table 6.1 and the tables that follow. The percentages in Table 6.1 are based on counts and in the other tables on responses. The reason is that there were news items that featured or equally focused on more than one religion or religious denomination, for which I ticked more than one category.
- 2.
For the breakdowns of meta-frames in the coverage of religion by newspaper, week, and overall in both countries, see Appendix C, Tables 1 and 2.
- 3.
See Appendix C, Table 3.
- 4.
The other breakdowns of Christian denominations in Britain and Islamic branches in both countries did not reveal other notable patterns.
- 5.
See Appendix C, Tables 4, 5, 6, and 7.
- 6.
See Appendix C, Tables 8 and 9.
- 7.
See Appendix C, Table 2.
- 8.
For the crosstab of Christianity and Islam by the frames in the political meta-frame in British newspapers—overall, see Appendix C, Tables 10 and 11.
- 9.
See Appendix C, Table 12.
- 10.
See Appendix C, Table 13.
- 11.
The crosstabs of meta-frames by the relevance and length of news items do not show any significant patterns.
- 12.
See Appendix C, Tables 14 and 15.
- 13.
See Appendix C, Table 16.
- 14.
See Appendix C, Table 17.
- 15.
See Appendix C, Table 18.
- 16.
See Appendix C, Tables 19 and 20.
- 17.
See Appendix C, Tables 14 and 15.
- 18.
See Appendix C, Table 21.
- 19.
See Appendix C, Table 22.
References
AA. (2014a). Alawi Dedes on Holy Journey, Shed Tears in Karbala. Yeni Şafak, 12 February, pp. 1, 19.
AA. (2014b). First Exploratory Dive for Basilica in Lake. Yeni Şafak, 12 February, p. 22.
Ackerman, S. (2014). Rights Report Raises Questions Over US Terror Prosecutions. Guardian, 22 July, p. 15.
Al-Azami, S. (2016). Religion in the Media: A Linguistic Analysis. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ashley, T. (2014). Prom 4: World Orchestra for Peace/Gergiev. Guardian, 22 July, p. 25.
Ayalon, A. (2004). Christian ‘Intruders’, Muslim ‘Bigots’: The Egyptian-Syrian Press Controversy in Late Nineteenth-Century Cairo. In T. Parfitt & Y. Egorova (Eds.), Jews, Muslims and Mass Media: Mediating the ‘Other’ (pp. 15–27). London, New York.
Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C., & McEnery, T. (2013). Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The Representation of Islam in the British Press. Cambridge University Press.
Balbay, M. (2014). The Country Is Not Doomed to This Fight! Cumhuriyet, 15 December, pp. 1, 8.
Bayram, S. (2013). Partisanship in the Content and Readership of British Newspapers: Post-War Trends. Journal for Communication and Culture, 3(1), 72–87.
Brogan, B. (2014). Live from the Vatican—You’re to Be a Cardinal. Daily Telegraph, 15 February, p. 15.
Buddenbaum, J. M. (1998). Reporting News About Religion: An Introduction for Journalists. Iowa State University Press.
Cantürk, S. (2014). Elective Religion Subject for Every Faith. Sabah, 15 December, p. 22.
Caple, H., & Bednarek, M. (2013). Delving into the Discourse: Approaches to News Values in Journalism Studies and Beyond. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
Çarkoğlu, A., & Yavuz, G. (2010). Press–Party Parallelism in Turkey: An Individual Level Interpretation. Turkish Studies, 11(4), 613–624.
Cıvaoğlu, G. (2014). Through Sacred Lenses. Milliyet, 24 July, p. 19.
Cumhuriyet. (2014). 15-Year Sentence in Bishop Murder Upheld. Cumhuriyet, 25 July, p. 5.
Cunha, M. (2018). Religious Exclusivism and Roman Catholicism in the Brazilian News Media. In Y. Cohen (Ed.), Spiritual News: Reporting Religion around the World (pp. 141–164). Peter Lang.
Cunha, M. (2021). Journalism, Religious Intolerance and Violence in Brazil. In K. Radde-Antweiler & X. Zeiler (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Journalism (pp. 296–310). Routledge.
Daily Mirror. (2014). MP’s ‘Warped View’ Warning. Daily Mirror, 25 July, p. 4.
Daily Telegraph. (2014). Reforms Will Make the Welfare State Solvent. Daily Telegraph, 15 February, p. 25.
Day, M. (2014). From Death Row to the Vatican, a Sudanese pilgrim’s Progress. Independent, 25 July, p. 8.
Dede, F. (2014). Erdoğan Was Real Target on 17 December. Yeni Akit, 14 February, p. 22.
Denli, I. (2014). Americans Let Experience the Excitement of Sahur (Pre-dawn) Meal. Zaman, 21 July, p. 16.
DHA. (2014). Syriac Christian Protest Against İŞİD. Milliyet, 27 July, p. 19.
Doughty, S. (2014). Church of England Fails to Pay Staff a Living Wage. Daily Mail, 26 July.
Doyle, J. (2014). Now Free Guantanamo ‘Briton’ Say Stars. Daily Mail, 15 December.
Dugan, E. (2014). Introducing the Eighth Bishop of Stockport—And the First of Her Kind. Independent, 18 December, p. 19.
Durukan, N. (2014). Syriac Christian to be Nominated for Deputy Mayor of Mardin. Milliyet, 11 February, p. 19.
Emre, E. (2014). Unresolved Problems Remained. Zaman Pazar, 27 July, pp. 1, 7.
Erboz, F. (2014). No Shia Turkmen Was Left in Telafer! Yeniçağ, 23 July, pp. 1, 8.
Evolvi, G. (2018). Habemus Papas: Pope Francis’ Election as a Religious Media Event. In Y. Cohen (Ed.), Spiritual News: Reporting Religion Around the World (pp. 219–236). Peter Lang.
Fox, R. L. (2014). Growing Faith: The Early Christians’ View of Gardening. House & Home FT Weekend, 20 December, pp. 1, 6.
Galtung, J., & Ruge, M. H. (1965). The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers. Journal of Peace Research, 2(1), 64–90.
Gill, R. (2012). Religion, News and Social Context: Evidence from Newspapers. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 45–59). Ashgate.
Gledhill, R. (2012). Mirrors to the World. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 89–98). Ashgate.
Goddard, H. (2014). Ramadan Provides a Time for Truce—And for Giving. Times, 26 July, p. 82.
Haede, W. (2013). Perceptions of Christians in Turkey: A Study of the Climate of Accusations Against Christians in Turkish Newspapers. International Journal for Religious Freedom, 6(1/2), 65–84.
Hallin, D. C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge University Press.
Hanson, M. (2014). Christmas on Your Own? It Could Be Bliss. Guardian, 19 December, p. 41.
Harcup, T., & O’neill, D. (2001). What Is News? Galtung and Ruge Revisited. Journalism Studies, 2(2), 261–280.
Harcup, T., & O’neill, D. (2016). What is News? News Values Revisited (Again). Journalism Studies, 18(12), 1470–1488.
Hatipoğlu, N. (2014a). Generous People Are Close to Paradise. Sabah, 24 July, p. 18.
Hatipoğlu, N. (2014b). The Night of Destiny and Power (al-Qadr) is Greeting, Well-being, Peace. Sabah, 23 July, p. 20.
Hughes, B. (2014). The Myths that Could Be Box Office Hits. Daily Telegraph, 24 July, p. 21.
Hungerford, M. (2006). Jihad and Crusade in International Media Discourse. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Annual Conference 2006, San Francisco.
Hürriyet. (2014a). Do Not Associate Divine Attributes to Things or Beings, Apart from God. Hürriyet, 25 July, p. 6.
Hürriyet. (2014b). Savagery. Hürriyet, 17 December, pp. 1, 17.
Hürriyet. (2014c). Why Central Africa Broke Out. Hürriyet, 16 February, p. 16.
Independent on Sunday. (2014). Thousands Attend Democracy Rally. Independent on Sunday, 16 February, p. 32.
Journalists and Writers Foundation. (2012). Turkish Media Creates Negative Perceptions of Non-Muslims. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from www.jwf.org/turkish-media-creates-negative-perceptions-of-non-muslims/
Kabil, A. (2014). For (Testimony of) Faith in One’s Final Moments… Zaman Cuma, 19 December, p. 10.
Kaplan, Y. (2014). I am Writing from the Pineapple Republic. Yeni Şafak, 14 February, p. 8.
Karakaş, G. (2014). Davutoğlu, Holds Talks with Barzani and Haleva. Milliyet, 20 December, p. 13.
Karim, K. H. (2006). American Media’s Coverage of Muslims: The Historical Roots of Contemporary Portrayals. In E. Poole & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), Muslims and the News Media (pp. 116–127). I.B. Tauris Publishers.
Kavaklı, A. E. (2014). Start the Term Well and Outperform Yourself. Yeni Akit, 13 February, p. 19.
Kayadibi, F. (2014a). Cleanliness Is Part of Faith. Posta, 25 July, p. 16.
Kayadibi, F. (2014b). Human Rights and Women’s Rights in Islam. Posta, 26 July, p. 8.
Kayadibi, F. (2014c). The Prophet Muhammad is an Example to Humanity. Posta, 23 July, p. 8.
Kayadibi, F. (2014d). Understanding the Prophet Muhammad. Posta, 24 July, p. 8.
Keane, J. (2010). The Life and Death of Democracy. Pocket Books.
Kebeli, Ö. (2014). ‘Both Ramadan and Muharram Are Ours’ Message from Marash. Zaman, 24 July, p. 17.
Keeley, G. (2014). Spain to Force Through Draconian Abortion Law. Times, 12 February, p. 33.
Khroul, V. (2018). Religion and News Media in Post-Soviet Russia. In Y. Cohen (Ed.), Spiritual News: Reporting Religion Around the World (pp. 125–139). Peter Lang.
Kirchgaessner, S. (2014). Franciscan Order Suffers Massive Fraud. Guardian, 20 December, p. 22.
Kırşan, Z. (2014). Cry My Eyes and Let My Soul Subtilise. Zaman Yeni Bahar, 16 December, pp. 14–17.
Korn, A. (2006). Joined Forces: The IDF and the Israeli Press Reporting of the Intifada. In E. Poole & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), Muslims and the News Media (pp. 142–152). I.B. Tauris Publishers.
Korn, A. (2014). Eric Korn. Independent, 19 December, p. 52.
Kulaksız, K. (2014). There Is Allah, and No Sorrow. Zaman Cuma, 19 December, pp. 1, 6.
Kulaoğlu, H. (2014). 20 Thousand People Come Together at Street Fast-breaking Dinner. Yeni Akit, 24 July, p. 11.
Landau, C. (2012). What the Media Thinks About Religion: A Broadcast Perspective. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 79–87). Ashgate.
Levy, A. (2014). Outcry as Woman Vicar Tells Pupils: There Is No Santa! Daily Mail, 19 December.
Lewis, J., Mason, P., & Moore, K. (2009). ‘Islamic Terrorism’ and the Repression of the Political. In L. Marsden & H. Savigny (Eds.), Media, Religion and Conflict (pp. 17–37). Ashgate.
Lövheim, M. (2021). Gender, Religion and the Press in Scandinavia. In K. Radde-Antweiler & X. Zeiler (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Journalism (pp. 62–75). Routledge.
Manning, P. (2006). Australians Imagining Islam. In E. Poole & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), Muslims and the News Media (pp. 128–141). I.B. Tauris Publishers.
Mayer, C. (2014). Isis Gun Fanatics’ Siege at Oz Cafe. Sun, 15 December, pp. 1, 6.
McElroy, D. (2014). Winds of Change Sweep Turkey. Sunday Telegraph, 16 February, p. 33.
McGreal, C. (2014). Midlands Priest Faces Genocide Probe. Observer, 16 February, pp. 1, 5.
McNair, B. (2009). News and Journalism in the UK (5th ed.). Routledge.
Milliyet. (2014). Negotiations Satisfied the Greek Cleric. Milliyet, 14 February, p. 16.
Mitchell, J. (2007). Media Violence and Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, J. (2012). Religion and the News: Stories, Contexts, Journalists and Audiences. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 7–30). Ashgate.
Nickerson, C. (2019). Media Portrayal of Terrorism and Muslims: A Content Analysis of Turkey and France. Crime, Law and Social Change, 72, 547–567.
Pagnamenta, R., Sahi, A., & Yusufzai, M. (2014). Taliban Kill 132 in Horrific School Attack. Times, 17 December, pp. 1–2.
Panayırcı, U. C., İşeri, E., & Şekercioğlu, E. (2016). Political Agency of News Outlets in a Polarized Media System: Framing the Corruption Probe in Turkey. European Journal of Communication, 31(5), 551–567.
Pepinster, C. (2012). Religion and the Specialist Press. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 107–115). Ashgate.
Pew Research Center. (2012). The Global Religious Landscape: Muslims. Retrieved March 8, 2017, from http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-muslim/
Philp, C. (2014). Massacre of Families Who Took Shelter in UN School. Times, 25 July, p. 30.
Pollock, D. (2014). Other Lives: Harry Stopes-Roe. Guardian, 26 July, p. 57.
Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims. I.B. Tauris Publishers.
Posta. (2014). Taliban Attacked School: 141 Dead. Posta, 17 December, pp. 1, 18.
Press Association. (2014). Female Bishop Could Get Next Seat Freed in Lords. Guardian, 19 December, p. 18.
Pritchard, S. (2014). Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Britain Tunes in to Its Spiritual Side. Observer, 21 December, pp. 10–11.
Richardson, J. E. (2004). (Mis)Representing Islam: The Racism and Rhetoric of British Broadsheet Newspapers. John Benjamins.
Richardson, R. (2011). Big Pictures and Daily Details: The Content and Form of Narratives. In J. Petley & R. Richardson (Eds.), Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the British Media (pp. 21–39). Oneworld.
Ross, T. (2014). Campaign to Protect Christian World’s Worst Trouble Spots. Sunday Telegraph, 21 December, p. 12.
Rumbelow, H. (2014). Young, British and Muslim. Times/ T2, 21 July, pp. 1, 4–5.
Said, E. W. (1997). Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World (Rev. ed.). Vintage.
Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. Penguin.
Sengupta, K. (2014). We Told You to Evacuate the School, Says Israel. No You Didn’t, Says UN. Independent, 26 July, p. 8.
Sherwell, P., & Sherlock, R. (2014). Isil Commanders Killed in US Air Strikes as Kurds Free Yazidis. Daily Telegraph, 19 December, p. 17.
Sherwood, H., Black, I., & Kingsley, P. (2014). Kerry Fails to Secure Gaza Ceasefire Despite Hours of Talks. Guardian, 26 July, p. 1.
Smith, H. L. (2014). Thousands Join Convoy as Shattered Shia Families Flee the Sunni Caliphate. Times, 23 July, p. 33.
Sommerlad, N. (2014). Governed by Hate. Daily Mirror, 22 July, pp. 8–9.
Sözcü. (2014). You Cannot Enter Paradise and Be Satisfied Unless You Give Away. Sözcü, 27 July, p. 14.
Sunday Telegraph. (2014). Life and Hope—The Most Precious Gifts. Sunday Telegraph, 21 December, p. 25.
Taira, T., Poole, E., & Knott, K. (2012). Religion in the British Media Today. In J. Mitchell & O. Gower (Eds.), Religion and the News (pp. 31–44). Ashgate.
Taraf. (2014a). Free Meriam in Italy. Taraf, 25 July, p. 16.
Taraf. (2014b). Kurdistan Islamic Party: Settlement Process is Golden Opportunity. Taraf, 14 February, p. 12.
Taraf. (2014c). That’s How Hitler Started. Taraf, 15 December, pp. 1, 9.
Tatlıcan, İ. (2014). Nursi Followers’ Vote Is for Erdoğan. Sabah, 21 July, pp. 1, 15.
Taylor, R. (2014). Suicide of Girl, 14, Who Couldn’t Face Telling Her Christian Parents: I Think I’m Gay. Daily Mail, 19 December, p. Not given.
Times. (2014). The Rev Dr John Hughes. Times, 22 July, p. 46.
Tocqueville, A. (1969). Democracy in America (Trans. George Lawrence). Anchor Books. (Original Work Published in 1835).
Tozkoparan, G. (2014). You Are Guilty: You Should Not Have Got Raped. Cumhuriyet, 27 July, p. 9.
Tran, M. (2014). Police Pull Over Plane on Runaway to Stop Girl joining Syria Jihadists. Guardian, 18 December, p. 5.
Trew, B. (2014). Editor Held as Erdogan Roots Out His Enemies. Times, 15 December, pp. 30–31.
Üster, C. (2014). Our Sister Sappho. Cumhuriyet Kitap, 13 February, p. 6.
Vallely, P. (2014). The World’s Most Persecuted People. Independent on Sunday, 27 July, p. 42.
van Kempen, H. (2007). Media-Party Parallelism and Its Effects: A Cross-National Comparative Study. Political Communication, 24(3), 303–320.
Vultee, F., Craft, S., & Velker, M. (2010). Faith and Values: Journalism and the Critique of Religion Coverage of the 1990s. Journal of Media and Religion, 9(3), 150–164.
Wahl-Jorgensen, K., et al. (2013). BBC Breadth of Opinion Review: Content Analysis. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/breadth_opinion/content_analysis.pdf
Willan, P. (2014). Papal aide tried to swindle (EURO)99m from inheritance left by Vatican land baron. Times, 22 July, p. 27.
Yeni Akit. (2014a). 1 Verse 1 Hadith. Yeni Akit, 26 July, p. 12.
Yeni Akit. (2014b). Independence for Muslims Only Solution. Yeni Akit, 12 February, p. 7.
Yeni Akit. (2014c). One Misfortune. Yeni Akit, 21 July, p. 20.
Yeni Akit. (2014d). The Islamic Straight Path and Declaration of Faith in One God. Yeni Akit, 22 July, p. 10.
Yeniçağ. (2014a). Allah’s Chosen Servants the Prophets: The Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). Yeniçağ, 16 December, p. 12.
Yeniçağ. (2014b). As an Unequalled Mercy the Prophet Muhammad. Yeniçağ, 19 December, p. 12.
Yeniçağ. (2014c). Racist Attack on Mosque in Plovdiv. Yeniçağ, pp. 1, 11.
Yezdani, I. (2014). Iraqi Christians Fleeing İŞİD: There Is No Room for Us in Iraq Anymore. Hürriyet Pazar, 27 July, p. 13.
Yıldırım, E. (2014). The journey of Islamist thought in Turkey. Yeni Şafak Kitap, 12 February, p. 15.
Yıldız, A. (2014). Media Ethics. Yeni Akit, 11 February, p. 17.
Zaman. (2014). Ramadan Is an Opportunity to Have Sins Melted Away… Zaman, 25 July, p. 30.
Zaman Yeni Bahar. (2014). Did You Know This? Zaman Yeni Bahar, 11 February, p. 38.
Zaman Yeni Bahar Çocuk. (2014). Shu’ayb (Jethro): The Prophet Who Made Mountains Kneel Down. Zaman Yeni Bahar Çocuk, 22 July, pp. 10–11.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Topkev, A. (2024). Framing Religion. In: A Democratic Approach to Religion News. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49519-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49519-9_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49518-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49519-9
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)