This chapter discusses the representation of religion in European daily press, mainly focusing on studies carried out in the Nordic countries and Britain from the 1980s to 2010. The results of these studies show similar tendencies with regard to changes in the representation of religion. The emergence of three main themes or frames; conflict, culture and constitutional rights, are discussed with reference to theories about increasing mediatization and a post-secular awareness of religion in European societies. The chapter argues that the new visibility of religion in the media over the past decades might not mean that religious institutions become more significant as social actors, but rather that religion becomes more significant as a social and political category for public discourse.  

This article discusses how women’s authority to speak about religion is forged in digital media and builds on empirical work focusing on bloggers in a Swedish context and vloggers in a North American context. These studies show how women’s self-performances in digital media are characterized by a communicative intention towards authentic self-expression. We argue that these self-performances also enable a particular form of authority to emerge, that is dependent on an individual’s personal qualities and ability to inhibit and/or perform certain values; relational and co-effected, and forged in constant connectivity with audiences. Authenticity is a core characteristic of this form of authority in the sense of a connection between being true to your inner self and acknowledging your dependence on others. Finally, vulnerability is an intrinsic part as, on the one hand, a condition enhanced by the socio-technological affordances of digital media and, on the other, as a possibility to challenge stigma, open up spaces of inclusivity and enacting a different ideal of authority.

This article studies empirically the complexity of religion in the public sphere by systematically comparing the five Nordic countries. Sociologists debate if current trends in the West point to secularization or a return of religion (deprivatization, desecularization, or post-secularity). By drawing on the social science complexity reference, this article offers a critique of current scholarship and introduces the concept of religious complexity. The empirical study asks how religion is regulated, debated, and negotiated in the state, the polity, the media, and civil society in the Nordic countries since the 1980s. It is based on multiple sources of data. The analysis shows several religious trends at different levels: A growing secularization at the individual level, and the deprivatization of religion in politics, the media, and civil society. The conclusion outlines the religious complexity in the Nordic countries and discusses possible explanations that link the different and seemingly inconsistent trends.

During the last decade the framework of mediatization theory has been introduced in the field of media, religion and culture as a parallel perspective to the “mediation of religion” approach, allowing new questions to be posed that align with religious change within Europe. This article provides a critical review of existing research applying mediatization of religion theory, focusing on key issues raised by its critics as well as how the theory have moved the research field forward. These issues concern the concept of religion, institution and social change, religious authority, and the application of mediatization theory outside the North-Western European context where it originated. The article argues that an institutional approach to mediatization is a relevant tool for analyzing change as a dynamic process in which the logics of particular forms of media influence practices, values and relations within particular manifestations of religion across various levels of analysis.

The aim of this article is to examine changes and continuities in thecoverage of religion in Swedish daily newspapers between 1988 and2018. Previous research has shown that Sweden in comparison withother Nordic countries is more secular in terms of its population’sreligious belief and practice, and more tolerant of immigration andreligious diversity. Against this background the article discusseswhether the representation of religion in four selected newspapersduring 2018 reveals a change with regard to trends identified in previous studies, covering the period between 1988 and 2008. It especiallyasks if such changes indicate the continuity of the ‘Swedish condition’,meaning a more tolerant approach to religious diversity as expressedin the daily press. The analysis shows that the coverage of religion inthe Swedish press during the period between 2008 and 2018 developsthrough parallel trends of the continued acknowledgement of religious diversity, a heightened focus on Islam and the public presenceof religion, and more contestation with regard to the political andsocial implications of this situation. In assessing these trends furtherstudy is needed concerning the interrelations between media representations of religious diversity and changes in other institutions inSwedish society such as politics, law, and education.

Religion has become a matter of intensified public concern in contem- porary Scandinavia, and the various media are the main arena in which Scandi- navians encounter such controversies. Historically-rooted understandings of re- ligion that are based on the Lutheran Church as both a public utility and cultural resource, and the secular state as the regulator of religious freedom and equality, have become re-articulated in newly emerging frames such as the politicization, culturalization and securitization of religion. This chapter presents the current volume’s overall approach to religion in contemporary Scandinavia as a mediatized and contested social phenomenon. The chapter ad- vocates a perspective from which ongoing contestations and negotiations among a larger spectrum of actors are explored through an application of both substan- tive and moderate social constructionist approaches to religion. The various ap- plications and interplays of these approaches to religion may fruitfully contrib- ute to the further development of the theory of the mediatization of religion.

This chapter presents an overview of religiosity and attitudes to religious diversity in media and other public spaces based on a cross-Scandinavian survey conducted in 2015. Although Scandinavians in general have a weak personal connection to religion, Christianity still holds a privileged position as an expression of cultural identity. Scandinavians express support for equal rights to practice religion, but also doubtfulness towards public expressions of religion. More than one-fourth of respondents discuss news about religion and religious extremism regularly. There is a widespread sentiment that Islam is a threat to the national culture, even though most respondents state that they oppose an open expression of hostile attitudes towards foreigners. Political orientation and gender are salient aspects that shape diverging opinions regarding tolerance or scepticism towards the public visibility of religious diversity. Furthermore, Danes and Norwegians are more critical of public expressions of Islam than Swedes.

Cultural and religious diversity are contested topics in Swedish public debate. This chapter analyses how the radio programme Människor och tro (People and belief) enables and structures the actors and issues that become heard in this debate, particularly with regard to Islam and Muslims. The programme aims to present an alternative to the dominant negative media discourses by equally representing Christianity and Islam in reports, inviting Swedish Muslims to present experiences and opinions on various news events, and enabling debate between religious organizations, experts, and listeners through phone-in sessions and social media. Despite these efforts, the programme tends to reconstruct, as well as challenge, the dominant frames of Islam as a problem for Swedish society and for the relations of power between the majority and minority voices in public debates. The chapter explores how contradictions between the traditional ideals and formats of public service radio and its ambitions to produce a more nuanced and diverse image of religion contribute to this outcome.