Religion and Mass Media
Audiences and Adaptations
Edited by:
- Daniel A. Stout - Brigham Young University, Provo, USA
- Judith M. Buddenbaum - Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA
March 1996 | 304 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
"This research on the uses of mass media across diverse Christian traditions is both original and provocative. By focusing on what audiences perceive and how they respond, Religion and Mass Media
is able to illuminate the experience of faith at a time when devotion is seen as a dimension of individuality best suited to the privacy of one's home. Professors Daniel A. Stout and Judith M. Buddenbaum should be commended for helping advance the study of religion and mass communication in the United States."
--John P. Ferrè,
Associate Professor of Communication,
University of Louisville
How do religious audiences react to and use the mass media? Religion and Mass Media is an audience-centered examination that reveals how a variety of Christian traditions experience media news and entertainment--in the context of institutional religious influences and expectations. Drawing on social science theories and empirical research methodologies, the contributors explore responses from Roman Catholics, Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, mainline Protestants, and Mormons and a variety of other traditions. In the first section, contributors set the framework by describing recent theoretical developments in the sociology of religion and communication theory. Section two provides an overview of the particulars of certain religious beliefs, section three looks at audience behavior, section four describes specific case studies (including one on rap music), and section five looks at the changing information environment and the future.
Students and professionals in communication, sociology, sociology of religion, and anthropology will find this volume to be both informative and insightful--an excellent supplement.
PART ONE: THE CURRENT STATUS OF RESEARCH ON RELIGION AND MASS MEDIA
Daniel A Stout and Judith M Buddenbaum
Introduction
Judith M Buddenbaum and Daniel A Stout
Religion and Mass Media Use
PART TWO: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND MEDIA ORIENTATIONS: INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Ted G Jelen
Catholicism, Conscience, and Censorship
Judith M Buddenbaum
Mainline Protestants and the Media
Quentin J Schultze
Evangelicals' Uneasy Alliance with the Media
Margaret Lamberts Bendroth
Fundamentalism and the Media, 1930-1990
Daniel A Stout
Protecting the Family
PART THREE: THE ROLE OF RELIGIOSITY IN MASS MEDIA USE: COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR
Tony Rimmer
Religion, Mass Media and Tolerance for Civil Liberties
Judith M Buddenbaum
The Role of Religion in Newspaper Trust, Subscribing and Use for Political Information
Judith M Buddenbaum and Stewart Hoover
The Role of Religion in Public Attitudes toward Religion News
Thomas R Lindlof
The Passionate Audience
PART FOUR: CASE STUDIES
Sam G McFarland
Keeping the Faith
JoAnn Myer Valenti and Daniel A Stout
Diversity from Within
Judith M Buddenbaum
Use of Mass Media for Political Information in a Middletown Quaker Meeting
Sharon Hartin Iorio
How Mennonites Use Media in Everyday Life
Cheryl Renee Gooch
Rappin for the Lord
Daniel A Stout, David Scott, and Dennis G Martin
Mormons, Mass Media, and the Interpretive Audience
PART FIVE: THE FUTURE: RELIGION AND THE CHANGING INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Jorge Reina Schement and Hester C Stephenson
Religion and the Information Society