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The Pope accounted more than 2/3 of all statements about religious leaders broadcast in 30 international TV news programs. “But Benedict XVI. media image deteriorated significantly in some Western European countries, as high expectations collide with reality”, concludes Dr. Christian Kolmer, Head of NGO Research at Media Tenor. “As the Pope entangled himself in the issue of Holocaust denial, when he readopted some members of the Pius confraternity, among them the notorious Bishop Williamson, German TV followed this affair over a longer period.” On the other hand, Benedict XVI. visit to Jordan led to an overall positive media coverage in Arabic news programs. “This is a clear success in view of the poisoned relationship of the Pope with the Muslim World after his highly controversial remarks about Islam in his 2006 Regensburg lecture”, Roland Schatz points out.
Media coverage of religious leaders follows the same rules as that of other protagonist, especially conflict as key news value. This is shown by the media coverage of the Dalai Lama, who ranked second in 2008, but was not among the top 20 in 2009, despite the 50th anniversary of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. During the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games, the Dalai Lama was highly present in the context of anti-Chinese demonstrations. The issues triggered as well significant negative comment about the Dalai Lama himself, but after the Olympics, reporting about the suppression of Buddhism in Tibet died down. “As a man of peace, the Dalai Lama cannot himself fan the flames of controversy, which affects his communication opportunities adversely”, Dr. Kolmer explicates.
MEDIA TENOR has been analyzing the coverage of religions and secular ideologies continuously since 2007. For the period from January 2008 to November 2009 overall 207,983 statements in 30 TV programs from nine non-Muslim and four Muslim countries have been analyzed. 17,267 of these focused on religious leaders.

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