Cartoonish Claims: Editorial Cartoon Depictions of Religion

Abstract

During the 2006 controversy surrounding the Danish cartoons mocking Muhammad and Muslims, many conservative Christians claimed that the media were harsher on Christians than Muslims. This study explores those claims by analyzing how religion and religious individuals are depicted in editorial cartoons. This study offers insights into differences in the treatment of various religions, as well as the topics in which religious individuals are discussed and the reasons religious individuals are mocked in the cartoons. Implications address the partially inaccurate claims by conservative Christians concerning media attention and the impact the editorial cartoon portrayals may have on the religions involved.

Notes

¹Although Buddenbaum (1996) originally had 11 categories, two of them were not used in this study and two others were combined. One category, important people, was discarded as not mutually exclusive. For instance, one cartoon on Bob Woodruff could be about media or important people. Likewise President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI could be labeled as important people but are more accurately included in politics/government and religion, respectively. Cartoons with important people were thus coded according to the context they appear in. The category of social services was used by coders but was not found and thus dropped. Finally, the categories of entertainment and media were combined after coders determined that they overlapped for this study.

Note. χ²(1) = 3.8, p < .05.

Note. χ²(8) = 38.7, p < .001.

Note. χ²(6) = 47.4, p < .001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brian T. Kaylor

Brian T. Kaylor (Ph.D., University of Missouri, 2008) is Assistant Professor in Communication Studies at James Madison University. His research interests include religious rhetoric and political communication.