The Media's Role in the Decline of Religion and Rise of Secularism in Ireland
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Losing my religion: the media's role in the decline of religion and rise of secularism in Ireland By Tatiana Scutari A dissertation prepared in fulfilment with of the requirements of the Degree of Masters in Journalism and Media Communications Faculty of Journalism and Media Communications Griffith College Dublin August 2018 1 Declaration I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of the MA in Journalism and Media Communications, is my own; based on my personal study and/or research, and that I have acknowledged all material and sources used in its preparation. I also certify that I have not copied in part or whole or otherwise plagiarised the work of anyone else, including other students. Signed: ________________ Dated: _________________ 2 Abstract This research focuses on changing religious values in Ireland. It examines the rise in secularism and the rapid decrease in church participation. The role that media may have played in the decline of religious belief in Ireland is the focus of this study. In the early twentieth century, religious belief played a much greater role in Irish society than it does today. The 1901 Census showed that the majority of Irish people were professed Roman Catholics. However, the 2016 Census showed a marked decline. The percentage of the population who identified as Catholic in the Census has fallen from 84.2 % in 2011 to 78.3 % in 2016. The ‘no religion’ group rose up from 5.9 in 2011 to almost 10 per cent in 2016. This makes ‘no religion’ the second largest group in this category, behind Roman Catholics. Also noted in this research is that in Ireland, there have been numerous reports of the abuse of children by clerical perpetrators, which the media reported on regulalrly. These played a major role in undermining Roman Catholic Church authority. It tended to push people away from religious belief. The media in Ireland, by doing some documentaries and investigative reporting, had played a crucial role in raising awareness of clerical child abuse, thus putting a lot of pressure on the Irish government to take action on this issue. It changed the public’s opinion on the matter of trust and loyalty to the Catholic Church. The research shows how media played a crucial role in public perception of religion, in part by the way in which the news was framed. 3 Table of Contents Page Declaration 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 - 9 Chapter 2: Literature review 10 - 24 Chapter 3: Methodology 25 - 33 Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings 34 – 59 Chapter 5: Conclusion 60 – 62 Bibliography 63 – 66 4 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Niall Meehan, for his continuous support of research, for his patience and vast knowledge, as well as insightful comments and encouragement. Thanks to Barry Finnegan and all lecturers from the Faculty of Journalism and Media of Griffith College Dublin. I would also like to thank my husband, Alex, and my sister, Emma, as well as my friends Ana and Vicky, who supported me during these intense months. To Freedom From Religion Foundation and all the people around the globe, who once left their religion and chose to be freethinkers. 5 Chapter 1: Introduction Belief in God has been a mainstay of life in Ireland (as in most societies) since early times. Some research suggests that, today, Ireland has the highest percentage of practicing Christians in Western Europe. A common perception of southern Ireland is one where faith and religion was unquestioned and going to Mass and praying was the norm. Religion was dominant in society for centuries and since the 19th Century, the Roman Catholic Church has been a huge influence. The last data of the European Values Study (2008) has shown that the proportion of Irish people who believe in God decreased from 97% in 1981 and 1990, to 95.5% in 1999, and to 91.8% in 2008. Some core Christian beliefs (for example: life after death, heaven, hell and sin) had similar declines of about ten percentage points in each. Very significant is data about Church attendance, which shows a severe church-oriented decline: weekly attendance (or more regularly) approximately halving from 82% in 1981 to 44% in 2008. This change principally occurred between the 1990 and 1999 surveys. Furthermore, 14% of the population never attended church in 2008, from 4.5% in 1981. The Roman Catholic Church was the most important institution in the Republic of Ireland for most of the 20th century. Its power was omnipresent. However, recent data from the Central Statistics Office (2016) shows that while Republic of Ireland remains a predominantly Catholic church, the percentage of the population who identified as Catholic on Census has fallen from 84.2 % in 2011 to 78.3 % in 2016. On the other hand, there has been a huge rise in the number with ‘no religion’, which grew by 73.6 %. Thus, those with no religion account now for almost 10 % of the population. It rose up from 5.9 in 2011 to almost 10 per cent in 2016. The Census revealed also 2000 devotees of the Jedi (Star Wars) 6 religion and some other spaghetti worshipers. Clearly, the southern Irish no longer accept religion without question. To what extent do Irish media reflect this questioning attitude? The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the media and the dominant church in Ireland and also how the relationship between these two has changed over the last number of decades. The research questions I pose are: a. The last Census 2016 indicates that religious belief in the Republic of Ireland is in continuing decline. How do we explain this decline and what appears to be a rise of secularism? b. What role did media in Ireland play in a decline of religious belief here, if any? c. Was the media a bridge between the church and the state? d. How important were newspaper articles or TV and radio programs about sexual abuse scandals in this process? e. What events, if any, were pivotal in changing that relationship? f. Is there a gap in the research or is the relationship between religion and media in Ireland studied sufficiently? g. What is the future of religious belief in this country? Chapter one gives an introduction to the subject, explaining the research aim, objectives and questions, including a short outline of every chapter. 7 In the second chapter, I examined Irish and international literature available on the aforementioned subject and provided a picture of major questions investigated in this research. Most of them focused on explaining the historic, cultural and social background that pushed people away from the churches in Ireland. I pictured religion in the Irish context, analysed what is the core of people’s belief and that during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Catholic Church had a monopoly position in the religious field in Ireland. The second chapter also analysed other researches position (O’Doherty, Kenny, Donelly, Inglis) in relation to the link between the media and the loss of religion in Ireland. In conclusion of the second chapter, I explained that the linkage is not studied sufficiently and the crucial role that media has played in this process has yet to be investigated. Chapter three focuses on the research methodology. I used a mix of content analyses, both qualitative and quantitative, including case studies and interviews with journalists and experts to probe the current state of religion in Ireland. One to one interviews were conducted with: a. Michael Nugent, Atheist Ireland b. Brian Whiteside, Humanist Association of Ireland c. David Quinn, The IONA Institute d. Joe Armstrong, author, editor and journalist In the third chapter, I did a quantitate analysis of the last 16 years of Census, starting with 2006 and ending with 2016. The data shows a dramatic decline of people’s belief and the increase in secularism, agnosticism, atheism and people with ‘no religion’. Chapter number four contains my analysis and findings. A book of a great importance I mention in this chapter is Twin Puplits: The church and media in 8 modern Ireland. It discusses the role of the media and the Churches in Ireland and contains clerical representative’s statements. One to one interviews conclusions are analyzed in this chapter, along with Fr Oliver’s O’Grady sexual abuse case. He became notorious and is constant eyes of the Irish press and overseas due to the publication of a stunning documentary, in which he luxuriously describes his abuses (2005). I analyse how tradition media reported on him versus scandal media. In the last chapter, I concluded some key aspects that led to the rise of secularism in Ireland and what role did media play in this process. 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1. Short overview There are few studies and publications that delve into the matter of religious belief and the rise of secularism in the Republic of Ireland. Such research is focused more on explaining the historic, cultural and social background that pushed people away from churches. The link between religion and the media and, specifically, the role that media may have played in the decline of religious belief in Ireland is the focus of this study. There are not enough studies and materials that would explain the rise of secularism and fall of religion in Ireland. However, the most important research on the market is by Inglis (1987), Kenny (1997), Hornsby-Smith (1987), O’Doherty (2008), Donelly (2000).