The Volume of Coverage of Religion Overall, Christianity, and Islam in British and Turkish Newspapers

In this study’s first empirical chapter, I provide and analyse quantitative data about the volume of coverage of religion overall, Christianity, and Islam in British and Turkish newspapers, including the differences between the sampled three distinct weeks. To further explain these findings, I also use the general variables of length, relevance, placement, type, main topics, and geography of main topics. Three findings stand out in this chapter. First, there was two and a half times more reporting of religion overall in Turkey than in the UK. Second, in both countries, the examined religious holidays led to a significant rise in the reporting of the home religion only. Third, unlike the dominant religions, which were predominantly covered through the prism of home news, the minority religions Islam in the UK and Christianity in Turkey were not reported as part of the home society in British and Turkish newspapers. I discuss all the findings in the context of both nations, making links to previous studies and key debates in the literature.