Religion being distorted on major news media in US, says Media Matters

BY A CORRESPONDENT

2 June, 2007:

A study conducted by Media Matters has thrown new light on the religious voices making their way into the news media in the United States.

Religion, says the study, is often depicted in the news media as a politically divisive force, with two sides roughly paralleling the broader political divide.

On the one side are cultural conservatives who ground their political values in religious beliefs; on the other side are secular liberals, who have opted out of debates that centre on religion-based values.

The truth, according to the Media Matters study, however, is far different – about 90% of Americans today identify themselves as religious, while only 22% belong to traditionalist sects.

Yet, in the cultural war portrayed by news media as existing across religious lines, centrist and progressive voices are either marginalised or are absent altogether.

In beginning to assess how the news media paint the picture of religion in the United States, the study by Media Matters measured the extent to which religious leaders – both conservative and progressive – are quoted, mentioned, and interviewed in the news media.

Among the key findings of the study by Media Matters are:

• Combining newspapers and television, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed in news stories 2.8 times as often as were progressive religious leaders.
   
• On television news – the three major television networks, the three major cable new channels, and PBS in the United States – conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed almost 3.8 times as often as progressive leaders.
   
• In major newspapers, conservative religious leaders were quoted, mentioned, or interviewed 2.7 times as often as progressive leaders.

Despite the fact most religious Americans are moderate or progressive, in the news media it is overwhelmingly conservative leaders who are presented as the voice of religion. This represents a particularly meaningful distortion since progressive religious leaders tend to focus on different issues and offer an entirely different perspective than their conservative counterparts, the study alleges.