ABSTRACT
What can be learnt from newspapers about perceptions of the social and religious context in the UK? In this chapter Robin Gill answers this question by providing a detailed analysis of the religious content of several leading British newspapers, from over the last forty years. On the basis of his original research, which focuses on three specific periods of coverage (during 1969, 1990 and 2011), Gill claims that it is possible to observe divergent perceptions of the social and religious context in the UK. This includes the ‘persistence’ of religious belief, ‘secularization’, ‘hostility to Islam’, indifference and hostility to Christianity, ‘interest in New Age religion and occasional interest in peak (commonly worldwide) religious events’. Gill considers how these perceptions have changed over the last four decades, and whether they are in tension. His chapter provides some contrasting conclusions from the previous chapter and further evidence of the evolving relationship between religion and the news in the UK.
