Religion, discourse and diversity: UK/Canada collaboration
Lead Research Organisation:
Lancaster University
Department Name: Politics Philosophy and Religion
Abstract
This partnership and networking initiative, between Kim Knott (PI, Lancaster University) and Lori Beaman (Co-I, University of Ottawa), will enable research networking between the United Kingdom and Canada on an interdisciplinary and comparative basis. Both countries have diverse populations, but they have considerable differences with regard to religion, law, politics, public policy, media and multiculturalism. The initiative will focus on the ways that mainstream media in the UK and Canada portray and represent majority and minority religions and their relationship with the secular state. It is important in both countries to analyse and question how the media contribute to constructing the public image of different religions and their members, and for researchers to engage with media professionals and religious representatives on these issues. We will identify and examine controversies on religious topics that attract media attention and the ways these vary and are similar in the two countries. This will be achieved through the development of a matrix for comparing media datasets that will, in turn, produce a comparative analysis of media coverage of religion in the UK and Canada, with foundation building for a similar analysis in other countries including Australia and New Zealand.
We view this initiative as an opportunity for the exchange of expertise. UK experience of engagement with research users and the development of appropriate pathways to impact will inform user engagement with Canada's Religion and Diversity Project. Canadian expertise on public discourse on multicultural controversies and legal cases concerning religious minorities will in turn contribute to UK research on religion, discourse and diversity.
The collaboration is focused on the following core activities: a) the development of a strategy for comparison of media coverage of religion and representations of religious identity in Canada and British media; b) opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows which will include active participation in the research programme; c) knowledge exchange and impact activities which will include workshops on religion and the media with stakeholders (journalists, religious correspondents, religious communications specialists etc), as well as contributions to policy through collaboration with existing policy partners; d) international dissemination of the research results and development of other potential international partnerships; e) sharing intelligence between the collaborators on mutual research interests and impact and innovation strategy.
Collaborative activities under this ESRC project will be supported by twice yearly meetings which will include a variety of activities, including research planning and development, graduate student training, young researcher mentoring, and impact activities beyond the academy with journalists and policy makers.
We view this initiative as an opportunity for the exchange of expertise. UK experience of engagement with research users and the development of appropriate pathways to impact will inform user engagement with Canada's Religion and Diversity Project. Canadian expertise on public discourse on multicultural controversies and legal cases concerning religious minorities will in turn contribute to UK research on religion, discourse and diversity.
The collaboration is focused on the following core activities: a) the development of a strategy for comparison of media coverage of religion and representations of religious identity in Canada and British media; b) opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows which will include active participation in the research programme; c) knowledge exchange and impact activities which will include workshops on religion and the media with stakeholders (journalists, religious correspondents, religious communications specialists etc), as well as contributions to policy through collaboration with existing policy partners; d) international dissemination of the research results and development of other potential international partnerships; e) sharing intelligence between the collaborators on mutual research interests and impact and innovation strategy.
Collaborative activities under this ESRC project will be supported by twice yearly meetings which will include a variety of activities, including research planning and development, graduate student training, young researcher mentoring, and impact activities beyond the academy with journalists and policy makers.
Planned Impact
This collaboration is expected to benefit stakeholders from the following groups:
(a) Members of the media with an interest in or responsibilities for reporting on religion, including journalists, religious affairs correspondents, newspaper editors, programme makers;
(b) Representatives of public bodies, e.g. equality and human rights organisations, policy agencies, think tanks, and campaigning NGOs;
(c) Public relations and communications officers of faith-based organisations;
(d) General public.
Three approaches to impact will be taken.
1. The Principal Applicant will contribute to capacity building in KE and impact by sharing UK intelligence and expertise with Canadian, Australian and New Zealand researchers. Although this will not have an immediate non-academic impact, we expect it to have benefits in the longer term for social and cultural research in terms of user engagement and public awareness strategy (given that the Religion and Diversity Project continues until 2017).
2. Through workshops and roundtable discussions we will engage directly - in both Canada and the UK - with non-academic stakeholders. By bringing together different constituencies (from the media, policy and faith-based organisations) and giving them an opportunity to meet, raise their own issues, and listen to each other, we aim to help facilitate effective working relationships between key religious representatives, media and policy makers. This three-way exchange will also contribute to our selection of research case studies and to how we analyse and interpret them. Simultaneously we will build on existing relationships of trust between ourselves and our contacts in the media and public bodies that will then form the basis not only for placing stories in the media about religion and diversity arising from our research, but for developing future research partnerships.
3. The research will also be disseminated in a showcase event (UK) and a public lecture (Ottawa) to which media professionals, representatives of faith based organisations, campaigning bodies, and a wider public will be invited. Briefings on media portrayals of religion and their implications for equality and diversity policy will be prepared in conjunction with external partners. Findings and case studies will be made available in web postings and alerts.
These interactions will be monitored and their benefits evaluated in 2014 at the end of this phase of the partnership. In particular we will consider the value added to user engagement and social and cultural impact by an international collaboration of this kind.
(a) Members of the media with an interest in or responsibilities for reporting on religion, including journalists, religious affairs correspondents, newspaper editors, programme makers;
(b) Representatives of public bodies, e.g. equality and human rights organisations, policy agencies, think tanks, and campaigning NGOs;
(c) Public relations and communications officers of faith-based organisations;
(d) General public.
Three approaches to impact will be taken.
1. The Principal Applicant will contribute to capacity building in KE and impact by sharing UK intelligence and expertise with Canadian, Australian and New Zealand researchers. Although this will not have an immediate non-academic impact, we expect it to have benefits in the longer term for social and cultural research in terms of user engagement and public awareness strategy (given that the Religion and Diversity Project continues until 2017).
2. Through workshops and roundtable discussions we will engage directly - in both Canada and the UK - with non-academic stakeholders. By bringing together different constituencies (from the media, policy and faith-based organisations) and giving them an opportunity to meet, raise their own issues, and listen to each other, we aim to help facilitate effective working relationships between key religious representatives, media and policy makers. This three-way exchange will also contribute to our selection of research case studies and to how we analyse and interpret them. Simultaneously we will build on existing relationships of trust between ourselves and our contacts in the media and public bodies that will then form the basis not only for placing stories in the media about religion and diversity arising from our research, but for developing future research partnerships.
3. The research will also be disseminated in a showcase event (UK) and a public lecture (Ottawa) to which media professionals, representatives of faith based organisations, campaigning bodies, and a wider public will be invited. Briefings on media portrayals of religion and their implications for equality and diversity policy will be prepared in conjunction with external partners. Findings and case studies will be made available in web postings and alerts.
These interactions will be monitored and their benefits evaluated in 2014 at the end of this phase of the partnership. In particular we will consider the value added to user engagement and social and cultural impact by an international collaboration of this kind.
People |
ORCID iD |
Kim Knott (Principal Investigator) | |
Lori Beaman (Co-Investigator) |
Publications
Gower Owen
(2012)
Religion and the News
Knott K
(2016)
Tips for Connecting Your Research with the Media
in Bulletin for the Study of Religion
Description | In our international research network on religion, media and diversity (UK/Canada/Australia/Finland), we shared and compared data from national and local newspapers collected on the same day each year (17 September 2013/2014/2015). We met annually to present our research and findings, and also presented at conferences in the UK and Canada. We led graduate training sessions (on media and impact), held a panel with media professionals, and contributed to teacher and pupil resources and lessons on religion and media. 1. Public anxieties about religion and atheism can be gauged from mainstream media reporting around the world. 2. Occasionally, a global event (e.g. an act of terrorism involving a religious group or a war in the Middle East) will be reported simultaneously in national newspapers in different countries, but more common is reporting on national issues. 3. Religion rarely makes it onto the front page of newspapers. 4. Much reporting on religion is negative in tone, but local papers, in particular, are more positive in dealing with local religious groups. 5. Some key contentious issues were the Charter of Values (Canada), marriage equality (Australia), Christian diversity (Finland) and the niqab ban in UK courtrooms. 6. We devised a novel research strategy. Our principal focus was the treatment of religion in the newspapers on 'an ordinary day'. Arguably there are no ordinary days (the 17 Sept 2014 was the day of the Scottish Referendum). However, selecting a single day for the collection and analysis of references was revealing in showing how religion was reported and how much coverage of it there was in any national setting. 7. Our focus on religion and media provided us with a platform for talking to school teachers and pupils, postgraduates and other colleagues about (a) how religion is treated in the media, and (b) getting research on religion into the media and engaging with journalists and media producers. |
Exploitation Route | Researchers from other countries could adopt the comparative methodology we devised for analysing media references to religion 'on an ordinary day'. Our tips for academics engaging with the media could be exploited by other researchers. The teacher/pupil resources developed in the UK during the project could be used more widely. They could form the basis of resources for other national settings. |
Sectors | Education Other |
Description | Religion in the Media: Data Management and Collection |
Amount | $7,000 (CAD) |
Organisation | University of Ottawa |
Department | Religion and Diversity Project |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | Canada |
Start |
Description | MoA Lancaster/Ottawa |
Organisation | University of Ottawa |
Country | Canada |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | A Memorandum of Agreement was established between Lancaster University and the University of Ottawa |
Start Year | 2012 |
Description | Religion, Discourse and Diversity: media workshops and project |
Organisation | University of Ottawa |
Country | Canada |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have brought experience of previous UK religion and media research, including methodology, coding framework etc, which have been developed and used in a comparative project with partners from Canada and other participants from Australia and Finland. The PI has brought experience of the UK Research Council's policy and agenda on impact, including impact toolkit, to graduate students and staff working on religion and diversity in Canada. We have organised two team meetings in the UK (Cambridge 2012; London 2013). |
Collaborator Contribution | Canadian team also brought expertise on religion and media, provided additional funding in cash and in kind, organised two graduate workshops (Montreal 2012, Ottawa 2014). Database was developed at Dalhousie University to support comparative project. Leadership of the project moved from UK to Canada in 2015. Impact event organised with media professionals in Ottawa in 2015. |
Impact | Comparative, international research project on 'Religion on an Ordinary Day' (not planned or costed in the original grant). Aim to collect and analyse data on 17 September in three years from range of newspapers in Canada, UK, Australia and Finland. Co-authored book will be the eventual outcome. |
Start Year | 2012 |
Description | Christianity Through a Media Lens |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and discussion. Not yet known |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation at conference panel (European Association for the Study of Religion) on 'How has religion changed: media perspectives', with Linda Woodhead (AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme) and Andrew Brown of 'The Guardian' Not known |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred: 1982-3, 2008-10 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | A context-setting lecture which introduced the methodology, brief findings and comparative cross-national possibilities arising from an AHRC/ESRC funded project, Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Media Portrayals of Religion workshop for teachers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Gave teachers and PGCE students information and ideas for classroom activities. Content is being developed into curriculum resources for RE. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | New Forms of Public Religion in the Media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Primary Audience | |
Results and Impact | Conference panel at final conference of AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme, on New Forms of Public Religion, Cambridge, September 2012. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity |
Description | Panel on future of the engagement of religion with the media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This was a panel for researchers and stakeholders on the future of religion/media relationships at the final conference of 'The Religion and Diversity Project' at the collaborator's institution, University of Ottawa, Canada. The panel was designed to encourage debate between academics and Canadian media professionals. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Panel on reporting religion in the media, Ottawa |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | The panel involved media professionals in Ottawa, Canada (press, TV, local radio) and two academics. The audience was other academics and graduate students. The aim was to help researchers to pitch their ideas and research to the media and to improve their media relations. There was lively discussion and ideas were shared between professionals and academics. Too early to say. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://religionanddiversity.ca/scheduler/2015/04/30/RDP_AnnualMeeting_2015/ |
Description | Religion and Media for Issues Today |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Contributed materials to Issues Today (a resource for KS3) no. 57, on religion (for teachers, libraries, schools). Use in classroom discussion etc. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013 |
URL | http://www.independence.co.uk/issues-today.htm |
Description | Religion and diversity on an ordinary day workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Workshop for research participants from UK, Canada (English and French-speaking), Australia and Finland Further research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Religion and the Media teacher resources |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | A high quality resource for teachers and pupils based on my work on religion in the media: content and discourse analysis. The purpose is to provide resource material (teacher and pupil guides) for use with GCSE and A Level Religious Studies. The resources are available online (via a University of Exeter URL). I do not know how many people have used the resources yet. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/theology/teachers/religioninthemedia/ |
Description | Religion on an ordinary day: 2015 workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Members of this international network and research project shared information and ideas stemming from their data and analysis since previous workshop in November 2013. We identified the limitations of the project and its methodology but also the power of looking comparatively across religion in the news media over three years and four countries. We planned final work, meeting to be held in 2015 (beyond the period of the funding) and co-authored book. None as yet |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Religion on an ordinary day: A Religion, Media and Diversity project |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Joint lecture given to mixed audience of researchers and stakeholders in the MCRI Religion and Diversity Project, Canada None yet |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Religion, Discourse and Diversity meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Religion, Discourse and Diversity meeting, Cambridge, September 2012 None in particular |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Religion, Media and Diversity |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Collaborative research workshop between UK and Canadian teams with additional participants from Australia and Finland. Contributing to future research and impact |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Research Workshop: Religion and Media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Research Workshop (1), held at University of Montreal, 17 May 2012 Contributed to further collaborative research planning and brought in new collaborators |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Resource for teachers: Religion and the media |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Workshop session (on discourse analysis of religion in the media) developed into resources for schools (video, teacher sheet and student activity sheet) and made available online. Teachers and trainees were actively involved in the workshop and are beginning to make use of the resources. Early days though. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/theology/teachers/religioninthemedia/ |
Description | School visit, presentation and discussion (Leeds) on 'Religion, media and extremism' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | I contributed to an event for A Level Sociology students on religion, media and extremism. About 30 students attended the presentation/discussion, and many engaged actively in the debate about media representations of religion, the portrayal of extremism, and what is meant by 'vocal and active opposition to British values' (in the counter-extremism strategy). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | What can we expect on religion from today's media? |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Graduate seminar on contemporary media portrayals of religion and the secular sacred None in particular |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |