Media Representation of Religions: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

In this chapter, Critical Discourse Analyses (CDA) of media representations of the three religions are conducted after discussing theories of discourse analysis and CDA at the beginning of the chapter. Six newspaper articles from the Daily Mail and The Guardian, two each on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are analysed. These are followed with an analysis of two documentaries, each on Islam and Christianity, which were broadcast on Channel 4 and the BBC, respectively. Next is a documentary on the Jewish community in Manchester, which was shown on ITV. The final section includes analyses of language used in TV dramas, one for each religion, including two episodes of a BBC spy drama representing Christianity and Islam, respectively, and an episode of an adult American animation series shown on the BBC.