Representation of religion in print media in Britain and Jamaica: a comparative study

Abstract

This study is an investigation made in 2013 on the representation of six religions and secular groups in the mass media in three newspapers in the UK and one in Jamaica. Through content analysis, the authors attempted to ascertain, among other things, which religion was more prominent in the news, the sources used and the main discourse or subject about these religions. In conclusion, there are no major differences in the representation of religion across these media systems and countries, which have similar culture and socio-political contexts. Islam and Christianity received most “negative” representations, although Christianity and other religions also had some “positive” framing, and some religions are not represented at all. Freedom of religion and inter-religious dialogue is relatively absent from the public and journalistic discourse.