Last week’s surprising news that, as recently as the 2011 census, more than half of the British population declared themselves to be Christian was strangely buried under the totally unsurprising news that, in the 2021 census, a little less than half did. That was the headline. Basically it was saying: “Guess how many people said they were Christian in last year’s census. You’re right – it’s roughly that. There’s absolutely no need to read on.” For news organisations thirsty for attention, this seemed like a perverse strategy.
The Daily Mail appeared to have fully embraced this approach, reporting that “young people are shunning Christmas carols for more modern festive songs”. But I’m cheating – that’s actually from a headline in November 1956. But I’m lying – it’s in fact from a headline last week. (Obviously I’ve broken your trust in my reporting now – but that’s probably for the best. Really you should be routinely checking these things with your like-minded peer group on social media.)
