Religion and Media 2014 Abstracts
Us and Them: A meta-analysis of research on media representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2013 • Saifuddin Ahmed, Nanyang Technological University; Joerg Matthes • This meta-analytical study provides an overview of the academic research on the portrayals of Muslims and Islam in the media worldwide from 2000 – 2013. Through an analysis of 207 studies we identify research patterns involving geographical focus, methods, theories, authorship, citations, media types, and time frame of studies. Based on our systematic evaluation we classify and discuss eight common themes explored when this topic is researched. Findings point to key directions for future research.
Just Add a Verse from the Quran: Effects of Religious Rhetoric in Gain- and Loss-Framed Anti-Alcohol Messages with a Palestinian Sample • Saleem Alhabash, Michigan State University; Nasser Almutairi, Michigan State University; Mohammed Abu Rub, Birzeit University • An experiment investigated the effects of message frame (gain vs. loss) and religious rhetoric (religious vs. non-religious) on the expression of anti-alcohol civic intentions with a sample (N = 80) of Palestinian young adults. Results showed that the main effects of message frame (gain > loss) and religious rhetoric (non-religious > religious) on anti-alcohol civic intentions were significant. Furthermore, the study showed that viral behavioral intentions were strongly and significantly associated with expressing anti-alcohol civic intentions, with larger explanatory power for gain-framed messages that used a religious rhetoric. Findings are discussed within the framework of persuasion models.
Does Inner Peace Correlate with Giving a Piece of Your Mind? Religiosity, Media Exposure and Tolerance for Disagreement about Religion • Mariam Alkazemi, University of Florida • The current study applies the spiral of silence effect to explore the role of media exposure on tolerance for disagreement about religion. Survey data were collected from students at a large Southeastern university in February 2014. Participants self-reported data that were used to measure religiosity, media exposure and tolerance for disagreement about religion. The results show there are three underlying measures in the tolerance for disagreement about religion scale, which relate to comfort, escalation and intellect. Further, the results suggest that exposure to internet correlates negatively with the intellectual component of tolerance for disagreement about religion, while exposure to radio correlates positively with the escalation component of tolerance for disagreement about religion.
Night and day: An illustration of framing using moral foundations to examine public opinion about the 2010 Oklahoma sharia ban • Brian J. Bowe, Michigan State University; Jennifer Hoewe, The Pennsylvania State University • This study examines the moral foundations identifiable through the lens of framing theory with particular regard to illustrations of public opinion in the news media. Using Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) to discern one component of the framing process – moral evaluations – this paper examines the discourse present in letters to the editor in two Oklahoma newspapers during the 2010 debate over a constitutional amendment to ban the Islamic moral code often called “sharia law” in the state constitution. This study used cluster and content analysis to identify three frames in the discourse, which emphasized themes of patriotism, heritage, and the golden rule. Each of these frames was related to the moral foundations identified by MFT, particularly as they are predicted to align with political ideology. Moreover, an examination of the moral foundations as 10 distinct items rather than as five continuums based on semantic differential pairs revealed the individual items function differently when allowed to independently vary.
Facebook and revival in Appalachia: Some quantitative analyses of attitudes toward serpent-handling • Julia Duin, University of Memphis • Serpent-handling among Appalachian Pentecostals has undergone a media blitz. From The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post to Buzzfeed.com, reporters have dissected the movement more than any other time in its 104-year-old history. This paper researches how the use of Facebook, with its many personal anecdotes, posts and photos of serpent handlers, has humanized the practice. The author’s recent surveys show how Facebook has led to much softening of public attitudes towards snake handling.
Newspaper Coverage of Christianity in South Korea, 1996-2005 • Taisik Hwang, University of Georgia • This study content analyzes a sample of 2,614 news articles dealing with religions published in Chosun Ilbo from 1996 to 2005, focusing on how this major newspaper covered Christianity in terms of its tone and frames. The results show that this religion was portrayed in a neutral or positive manner, and that both Protestants and megachurches were mostly considered providers of social work services. These findings have implications for academic, media, and religious sectors.
Magazine Iconography: Portrayals of Religion on Magazine Covers • Joy Jenkins, University of Missouri; Mimi Perreault, University of Missouri; Gregory Perreault • Religious themes have continually been popular topics for magazines. These topics are occasionally referenced explicitly on magazine covers, but more often, they are depicted implicitly through the use of religious imagery. Imagery may take the form of well-known narratives from religious texts or the use of religious symbols or icons. This study applied narrative theory to assess religious imagery present on magazine covers from the last 48 years as selected and recognized by the American Society of Magazine Editors. Using fantasy theme analysis, the study revealed three themes evident among the covers: the use of religious symbols to address technological anxiety, particularly the influence of Apple products; ironic or subverted presentations of female religious figures to address contemporary lifestyle topics; and the use of religion to make meaning from crises or disasters. The findings showed that religious imagery fulfilled strategic aims for magazines, highlighting implicit and explicit religious narratives through which magazines could sell products or enhance the salience of topics.
These Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of Reality TV: Media Elites’ Views on Religion and the Paradigm of Corporate Media • Rick Moore, Boise State University • This study examines the controversy surrounding religious comments made by Phil Robertson, a key figure in the reality television show Duck Dynasty. Scholars have long argued that journalism has a paradigm for determining how the profession should operate . Given the conflict resulting from Robertson’s views, the intent was to understand how journalists proposed this newer genre might deal with issues related to religion and tolerance. In studying how editorial writers and columnists wrestled with the issues of the imbroglio, I found that the elites from the papers had several complaints about Robertson and reality TV, and only a few recommendations on how the genre might deal with similar clashes in the future.
Bishop Richard R. Wright Jr., The Christian Recorder and Social Responsibility • Robbie Morganfield, University of Maryland • Many of America’s first black newspapers were edited by Christian ministers who practiced principles that came to be associated with social responsibility theory. However, their work is overlooked in histories and discussions about the theory’s development. This paper questions that pattern and examines some of the work of the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Christian Recorder, the nation’s oldest continuously published black newspaper, and Bishop Richard Robert Wright Jr., its longest serving editor.
Pop Music and the Search for the Numinous: Exploring The Emergence of the “Secular Hymn” In Post-Modern Culture • Steve Thomsen; Quint Randle, BYU; Matthew J. Lewis, Brigham Young University • A growing body of research suggests traditional religious institutions are failing to meet the spiritual needs of their adherents, who are now in search of new gods and new religious myths. This paper defines and explores the phenomenon of the “secular hymn.” While non-religious in nature or intent, the secular hymn is a pop song that allows the listener to experience the numinous by creating an affective state that parallels a spiritual or religious state of mind. This paper outlines the phenomenon of the secular hymn in pop culture, defines its characteristics and then tests several pop songs against these criteria. And while some secular hymns may be used in some church settings, the overall trend may exemplify the continuing erosion of traditional religion and the use of explicitly religious music in both public and private settings.
The New Scroll: Digital Devices in Bible Study and Worship • Kathy Richardson, Berry College; Carol Pardun, University of South Carolina • This study, using data collected from an online survey of 234 respondents, investigated the prevalence of digital tools for Bible study, religious reading and corporate and individual worship among those who described themselves as “religious” or “very religious.” Respondents were older than previous studies (59.4% over the age of 50). They were also more new technology savvy than previous research has indicated. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents used newer technology to read their Bibles at home and while traveling. Bible study and Sunday school teachers were more inclined to use newer technologies to study and for corporate church worship than were non-teachers.
Mediatization of Religion: How the Indonesian Muslim Diasporas Mediatized Islamic Practices • Yearry Setianto, Ohio University • This study explores the process of mediatization of religion in the context of how Indonesian Muslim diasporas in the United States are using media to mediatize Islamic practices. Using ethnographic observation of the Indonesia Muslim Society in America (IMSA) and their media activities, this study found Islamic practices are mediatized to deal with physical boundaries. Dependency on media for religious practice does not turn this community into secular, but makes them more religious.
The Religious and Moral Beliefs of University Leaders and the Beginnings of American Journalism Education • Jeffery Smith, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee • Journalism education programs began appearing in the United States from the Gilded Age through the Progressive Era. Administrators who launched formal instruction in the field were responding to criticism of the press and, in many cases, were evidently motivated by personal religious and moral convictions. They sought to improve the profession with spiritual perspectives at both private and public institutions.
Do You Want to Feel the Love of Christ? There’s an App For That: Understanding Tablet Media as the New Electronic Church • Jim Trammell, High Point University • As mass media evolves from broadcasting to digital media, so is the electronic church evolving from religious programs to religious apps. This manuscript addresses how mass media technologies affect Christian programming. Informed by technological determinist and mediatization frameworks, it analyzes how broadcast technologies influenced Christian broadcasting in the 1970s and 1980s, and explores how tablet medium generates new themes in the electronic church. The manuscript also considers how these themes influence twentieth-century American Christianity.
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