Hollinshead, Ailsa Marion (2002) the Production and Reception of Discourses Concerning Religion in Fictional Broadcasting
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n Hollinshead, Ailsa Marion (2002) The production and reception of discourses concerning religion in fictional broadcasting. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/7215/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The production and reception of discourses concerning religion in fictional broadcasting Vol. 1 Ailsa Marion Hollinshead A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Glasgow Department of Sociology and Anthropology Faculty of Social Sciences September 2002 © Ailsa Marion Hollinshead 30t° September 2002 Author's Declaration I declare that the contents of this thesis are all my own work. Ailsa Marion Hollinshead . 010` Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people for their support, advice and encouragement over the course of the past three years. The work would have been impossible without the financial support of the ESRC (Award no. R00429934507). Having received funding, I have been fortunate with my supervisor, Professor John Eldridge. His concern for my well-being as well as my academic work was greatly appreciated. My thanks go to Dr. Bridget Fowler, for her additional support and advice. I am also grateful to my department for the many ways in which my research was encouraged and to the numerous individuals who provided an ear or a word of advice. Promises of confidentiality prevent me from listing everyone who assisted in the research but I am very grateful to all those people who helped me to organise focus group interviews; to everyone who took part in all of the interviews; to everyone who provided me with contact numbers for various broadcasters and members of advisory committees, and to Professor Steve Bruce, Dr. David Gauntlett, Mr Richard Pattison and Professor Kenneth Thompson who provided me with useful background information. Finally, I want to thank friends and family who have been required to have the patience of Job. I am especially grateful to my friend and colleague Richard Yuill for reading, commenting on and discussing my work - and his willingness to share the odd glass of wine! However, the one person who has borne everything (and deserves a PhD for I is Syd. endurance) and ensured that never gave up my partner - thank you Abstract This thesis examines the production and reception of discourses concerning religion in fictional broadcasting. It argues that the representation of religion in fictional broadcasting is a neglected area in the sociology of mass media and that this neglect contributes to a lack of understanding regarding the importance of religious identity. A quantitative methodology was rejected in favour of a multi-dimensional qualitative and hermeneutic approach. Sociological analysis was facilitated using conceptual tools developed by Bourdieu, notably doxa, habitus, field and symbolic capital. The reception of discourses of religion in fictional broadcasting was investigated through the use of focus group interviews, throughout Scotland. Focus groups were chosen based on participants being television viewers who were part of naturally occurring groups, which were either overtly religious or non-religious. The religious groups included Christian denominations, Muslims and Sikhs. Official representatives from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist religions were also interviewed. Interviewees consistently identified limited and negative representations of religion in fictional broadcasting. Explanations, by the interviewees, for these representations referred to secularization generally and a secular attitude on the part of broadcasters. There was also evidence that religion was elided with ethnicity, and reference to `repressive Islam' as an explanation for the very limited presence of all non-Christian religions. Production was investigated through interviewing broadcasters who were responsible for some of the most frequently mentioned programmes in the focus group interviews. A smaller number of broadcasters who were involved with religious broadcasting were also interviewed, with the intention of exploring the broadcasting ethos in relation to religion. Broadcasters confirmed that a secular ethos dominated but they also identified a number of constraints, which affected decisions to include or exclude religion from programmes. The elision of ethnicity with religion was also evident and much of this was related to broadcasting policy in relation to cultural diversity, which emphasised race as the most important factor. The relationship between religion and broadcasting since the start of broadcasting was examined through an analysis of letters and articles in The Radio Times and The Listener. This. analysis demonstrated the increasingly secular attitudes on the part of both audiences and producers. It also provided an historical contextualisation for the contemporary part of the research. Academic arguments concerning secularization generally and its relationship to broadcasting, specifically, were examined. Although there are debates about the legitimacy of the secularization thesis, within academe, this study suggests that within broadcasting the argument has been won and religion is seen as far less relevant than race, gender or disability. The conclusion of the study is that representations of religion should be taken more seriously by academics and broadcasters because they do have an effect on attitudes that affect social inclusion and exclusion. Whilst this is problematic for Christians and Sikhs the findings of this study suggest that it is particularly problematic for Muslims. CONTENTS Page Volume 1 Chapter One 1 Introduction 1 Research gap and researcher subjectivity 2 A personal note 2 Ontological divisions 3 Social inclusion and exclusion 5 Focus of the study 7 The history of media studies 9 Behavioural phase 9 Incorporation/Resistance 11 Religion and broadcasting 16 Audiences 17 Media 20 Religious Use of Media 23 Media as religious 24 Opinion 25 In search of a method 28 Methods 29 Focus Groups and Interviews 32 Validity, reliability and generalisability 36 Sampling 39 41 Secularization -a contemporary context Tools for-a sociological understanding 41 Conclusion 45 Chapter Two - Religion and Broadcasting The early years 45 1940 55 1955 63 69 1962 -1965 1977 77 1985 87 Up to the present day 92 Conclusion 98 Chapter Three - Focus Group Interviews 100 Selection of groups 100 Problems 102 Transcription 104 Structure of interviews 104 Soaps 105 Comedy 105 Drama 105 Sci-fi 105 Soaps 105 Comedy 106 Science Fiction 106 Drama 106 Absences 107 Moral and ethical issues 107 Guiding principles 108 Explanations 108 Fit 108 Unusual/extraordinary 108 108 Bearers and markers of religiosity - soaps 120 Bearers and markers of religiosity - comedy 127 Bearers and markers of religiosity - drama fiction 130 Bearers and markers of religiosity - science Absences 130 Christianity 131 Non-Christian Faiths 133 137 Moral and ethical issues/guiding principles Explanations 141 Christianity 141 Ratings 141 Scriptwriters 142 143 Social attitudes Non-Christian religions 144 Fit 148 Unusual/Extraordinary 152 Conclusion 156 Four Faith Representatives 158 Chapter - Introduction 158 Faith Representatives 163 Presence or absence of broadcasting policies and 165 reasons for this Specific problems encountered with the media 168 Other Issues 171 Religion/Ethnicity 171 Religion too boring/nice 172 Religious discrimination 172 Falling standards 173 Christian broadcasters 173 GodDigital, CCN Europe, SAT7 173 GRF Radio 174 Conclusion 175 Chapter Five - Broadcasters 176 Introduction 176 Interviewees 177 Constraints 177 Knowledge of religion 181 Dramatic limitations 182 Reasonsfor inclusion of religion 183 Reasonsfor omission of religion 185 Non-fictional broadcasters 186 Conclusion 191 Six Broadcasting Secularization 194 Chapter - and The background to secularization 194 Common-sense understandings 198 Secularization thesis 199 Competing definitions 201 Broadcasting and secularization 204 Social and legal developments 209 210 The move to `race' Fundamentalism 211 Changing positions 213 Broadcasting and religion today 215 Religious self-identity and broadcasting 218 Conclusion 220 Seven Conclusion 223 Chapter - Effects of media representations 224 Blurring religion and ethnicity 227 Effects on religious organisations 227 Effects on production 228 Secularization and broadcasting 230 Fruitfulness of conceptual tools 231 The way forward 233 Appendices 235 Bibliography 243 Volume Two - Interview Transcripts 258 Focus Groups Arbroath Interview 258 Dunblane Interview (Drama Group) 291 Dundee Interview (Muslims) 318 Edinburgh Interview (Friendship Group) 321 Edinburgh Interview (Film Guild) 325 Edinburgh Interview (Muslims) 352 Edinburgh Interview (Roman Catholics) 370 Edinburgh Interview (Schoolgirls) 391 Edinburgh Interview (Sikhs) 412 Fraserburgh Interview (Pentecostalists) 424 Oban Interview (Book Club) 462 Oban Interview (Church of Scotland) 487 Faith Representatives Buddhists 512 Christians