Acta Universitatis Danubius. Communicatio, Vol 10, No 1 (2016)

Abstract

According to the ”Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism” (WIN-Gallup International, 27 July 2012, retrieved 24 August 2012), which was a global 2012 poll, the reports label 59% of the world's population as "religious" and 36% as not religious, including 13% who are atheists, with a 9% decrease in religious belief from 2005. Thereto, religion is an important issue of inherent influence in the media nowadays. Despite the ongoing secularization process that we are facing these days, humans still feel the need to refer to religion within their attempt to construct one’s own outlook on life, and to make some sense out of existence in general (Max Weber, 1920)

A comparative content analysis on Mediafax.ro and Agerpres.ro, performed for an almost nine-and-a-half-month time span (1st January to 13th October 2015), showed interesting facts on how press agency journalists relate to religion as a media topic, both in terms of quality (key words and key topics) and in terms of quantity. A comparison between the Orthodox religion of the majority of the Romanians, and other denominations, also accounted for intriguing research findings.