Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers
Atheists are among the most disliked “religious” groups in the United States, but the origins of this aversion remain poorly understood. Because the media are an important source of public attitudes, we analyze coverage of atheism and atheists in American and British newspapers. Using computational...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/291 |
| _version_ | 1797536897977810944 |
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| author | A. Maurits van der Veen Erik Bleich |
| author_facet | A. Maurits van der Veen Erik Bleich |
| author_sort | A. Maurits van der Veen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Atheists are among the most disliked “religious” groups in the United States, but the origins of this aversion remain poorly understood. Because the media are an important source of public attitudes, we analyze coverage of atheism and atheists in American and British newspapers. Using computational text analysis techniques, including sentiment analysis and topic modeling, we show that atheism is portrayed negatively by the print media. Significantly, we show that greater negativity is associated with <i>atheism as a concept</i> than with <i>atheists as individuals</i>. Building on this insight, and challenging arguments that prominent atheist intellectuals attract negative coverage, we also find that coverage of famous atheists is actually more positive than that of atheists or atheism in general. Overall, our findings add a new dimension to scholarship on differences between individual-targeted and group-targeted tolerance in public attitudes, establishing for the first time that media coverage mirrors such differences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:07:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-24c2a58e296e466d9f8fe97c021cae32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:07:23Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-24c2a58e296e466d9f8fe97c021cae322023-11-21T16:29:12ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442021-04-0112529110.3390/rel12050291Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-BelieversA. Maurits van der Veen0Erik Bleich1Department of Government, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23185, USADepartment of Political Science, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, USAAtheists are among the most disliked “religious” groups in the United States, but the origins of this aversion remain poorly understood. Because the media are an important source of public attitudes, we analyze coverage of atheism and atheists in American and British newspapers. Using computational text analysis techniques, including sentiment analysis and topic modeling, we show that atheism is portrayed negatively by the print media. Significantly, we show that greater negativity is associated with <i>atheism as a concept</i> than with <i>atheists as individuals</i>. Building on this insight, and challenging arguments that prominent atheist intellectuals attract negative coverage, we also find that coverage of famous atheists is actually more positive than that of atheists or atheism in general. Overall, our findings add a new dimension to scholarship on differences between individual-targeted and group-targeted tolerance in public attitudes, establishing for the first time that media coverage mirrors such differences.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/291atheismprejudicecomputational text analysissentiment analysistopic modeling |
| spellingShingle | A. Maurits van der Veen Erik Bleich Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers Religions atheism prejudice computational text analysis sentiment analysis topic modeling |
| title | Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers |
| title_full | Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers |
| title_fullStr | Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers |
| title_short | Atheism in US and UK Newspapers: Negativity about Non-Belief and Non-Believers |
| title_sort | atheism in us and uk newspapers negativity about non belief and non believers |
| topic | atheism prejudice computational text analysis sentiment analysis topic modeling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/291 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amauritsvanderveen atheisminusanduknewspapersnegativityaboutnonbeliefandnonbelievers AT erikbleich atheisminusanduknewspapersnegativityaboutnonbeliefandnonbelievers |