{"title":"The Theory of Hypermediation: Anti-Gender Christian Groups and Digital Religion","authors":"Giulia Evolvi","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2022.2059302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2022.2059302","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article elaborates the theory of hypermediation to describe actions related to digital religion that involve various media platforms. According to this theory, media simultaneously hold material, institutional, and technological characteristics. Furthermore, hypermediation entails the creation of affective spaces between physical and digital actions. The theory of hypermediation draws upon literature on religion and media and is applied to case studies of anti-gender movements: Christian-inspired groups that oppose same-sex unions and promote traditional family values. The group Sentinelle in Piedi employs the Internet to organize silent protests at which people read books as an implicit criticism of media institutions and technologies. La Manif Pour Tous stages performances in physical settings to provoke emotional reactions, then it enhances their impact through online circulation. The article uses these examples to show how the concept of hypermediation can be a starting point to analyze the multimedia character of contemporary religion across material actions and digital spaces.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"2 1","pages":"69 - 88"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84666027","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Erik J. Engstrom, D. Stephenson., Y. Kim, Joseph M. Valenzano
{"title":"“Under His Eye”: Religious Appropriation and American Civil Religion in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale","authors":"Erik J. Engstrom, D. Stephenson., Y. Kim, Joseph M. Valenzano","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2022.2059301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2022.2059301","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study explores how the Hulu streaming series The Handmaid’s Tale (2017-) extends Margaret Atwood’s novel by depicting the aftermath of the transformation of the United States by the fake theocracy of Gilead through visual cues that evoke American civil religion, a performative system of symbols and rituals that reifies national values and unites a pluralistic society. A textual analysis of the episode “Household,” set in Gilead’s capital of a reimaged Washington, D.C., found four main themes regarding the onscreen depiction of Gileadean theocracy and its surface victory over the United States and its accompanying symbols of American civil religion: (a) religion used as a façade, (b) desecration of sacred sites in American civil religion, (c) silencing, and (d) surveillance. This study adds a unique contribution to the study of American civil religion through its examination of visual images in a fictional televisual text.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"1 1","pages":"55 - 68"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88804476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Religion in Situational Crisis Communication Theory: An Examination of Religious Rhetoric and Religiosity","authors":"Jordan Morehouse, Lucinda L. Austin","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2022.2059327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2022.2059327","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Crisis communication scholars have not fully explored crises within religious organizations, including the impact of religious rhetoric in crisis responses or stakeholder’s religiosity. This study conducted a survey-experiment to examine recommended crisis response strategies, based on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), with and without religious rhetoric to explore the impact of religious rhetoric and religiosity on stakeholder’s skepticism, attitudes, trust, and supportive intentions. Results provide support for SCCT strategies and suggest that no religious rhetoric in post-crisis communication resulted in more supportive attitudes toward the organization. This study advances crisis communication theorizing by arguing that stakeholder identity – including religiosity – should be considered when responding to crises with a religious component, or crises within religious organizations.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"38 1","pages":"105 - 123"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77663575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"YouTubing Eudaimoniae? Pachamama, Inspiration, and Manipulation in Platonic and Biblical Rhetorics","authors":"Jon P. Radwan, Benjamin D. Giffone","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2022.2059309","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2022.2059309","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Rhetorical functions of media are outlined in the Platonic and Biblical traditions and applied to 2019ʹs “Pachamama” YouTube iconoclepsis (“image-stealing”) controversy. Where post-Enlightenment theory brackets or dismisses spiritual communication, pre-modern frames offer clear heuristics and vocabulary for interpreting mediated religious protest. In reaction to a culture of sophistic manipulation, Plato envisioned ideals approached via cooperative dialectic. Psychogogy, leading souls, requires artists and orators adapting true, beautiful, and good ideals for people in their care. Plato uses a pharmacological metaphor to show how art and public discourse can harm and diminish, or heal and restore, spiritual wellbeing, and social eudaimonia. In contrast to Plato, the Biblical tradition cedes invention to God, whose message is shared with passion and urgency to guide people away from evil toward flourishing. The culmination of prophetic communication is the Incarnation: Jesus gives humanity direct contact with divine truth and light, and upon His resurrection the Holy Spirit inspires missionary outreach. Today YouTube activists engage power dynamics within sacred space and imagery to attempt Church reforms.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"103 1","pages":"89 - 104"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85858744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intentions, Results, and Disuse of Online Dating for Religious and Non-Religious Emerging Adults","authors":"Lindsey Almond, Jacquelyn K. Mallette","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.2017738","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.2017738","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study determines religious differences associated with emerging adults’ perceptions, intentions, and usage of online dating. Symbolic interaction theory informs how symbols associated with online dating impact perceptions, intentions, and usage among a sample of 447 emerging adults, between 18 and 30 years old. More religious individuals were found to use online dating less, have more negative perceptions, and hold more concerns about online dating, showing that religious beliefs and norms may still associate online dating as a sexual culture. The association of religiosity and resultant relationships was found to be mediated by frequency and concerns about online dating, but not perceptions. As technology continues to expand, online dating usage will likely become widespread. Implications for practitioners and future research are provided.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"225 1","pages":"38 - 54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77077033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deficient Progression: Charting Diversity in Major Media and Religion Journals","authors":"Chiung Hwang Chen, Ethan Yorgason","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.2020494","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.2020494","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study analyzes the recent state of the field of media and religion along several “visible” dimensions of diversity. Although these elements give only a surface-level view of how diversity operates, we argue for both the value of and the need to increase these types of diversity within the field. The article numerically analyzes five leading journals publishing on media and religion since 2000. It evaluates both author characteristics and article content in relation to such elements of diversity as gender, race/ethnicity, sexual identity, geographic location, and religious focus. It finds that while important, if not fully sufficient, progress has been made in relation to gender, many of the other indicators of diversity continue to lag. Contributions from and attention to issues within non-White, non-Christian, and non-USA/Canada/European authors and communities are especially lacking. The article concludes with suggestions for increasing diversity within the field.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"5 1","pages":"18 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83591063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Interplay of News Production and Journalistic Self-Branding in the Coverage of Celebrity Mixed Marriages","authors":"Einat Lachover, Sylvie Fogiel-Bijaoui","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.2014198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.2014198","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In October 2018, Lucy Aharish, a Muslim Israeli-Arab journalist, and Tzachi Halevy, a Jewish Israeli actor, were married. In Israel, mixed-marriage, especially between a Jewish-Israeli man and a Muslim-Arab-Israeli woman, is perceived to threaten the social order. This celebrities’ mixed marriage triggered a heated public debate focusing on “assimilation” and arguing the marriage was a threat to the demography of the Jewish state. The high-visibility coverage of the story allows us to examine the role of celebrities in creating mediated public-discourse around complex categories of identity. We ask: How has Israeli journalism framed the issue of mixed marriage through the case of Aharish and Halevy? And what roles have Aharish and Halevy as celebrities played in framing their own story? Based on content-analysis of 149 news items published on digital news-sites, we detected three main news frames: “A love story,” “Advocating inclusion,” and “Fighting assimilation.” Analyzing the prominent role and the agency of the couple in the coverage, the case-study demonstrates how “traditional” news construction by journalists consolidates with self-branding of news-people. It suggests that we examine not only the frames embedded in news, but also the process of framing within the current individualistic news environment – where journalists become celebrified journalists.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"49 1","pages":"1 - 17"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75453188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Negotiating Normality: Using Digital Media to Combat the Stigma and Perceptions of Islam in the West","authors":"A. Aksoy, Nihar Sreepada","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.1988312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.1988312","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In the aftermath of a terrorist attack on an Islamic community in New Zealand, how has the stigma and perceptions of the West about Islam impacted the reaction of audiences? Drawing on Tweets (Twitter) and the statements of Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, this paper explores how individuals construct their messages to establish a discourse that aspires to blend Islam into the “norm” of Western ideas and values. Applying the Goffman framework, we observe how the two compose their messages to resist the West’s stigma and perceptions of Islam and plea to being “normal.” Specifically, attention is placed on how normality is constructed through the presentation of Muslim’s place of worship, mosques, and their communities. A qualitative textual analysis revealed different interpretations of how these places of worship and their communities identify “normalness” in an attempt to de-stigmatize the negative construction of Islam in the West. Therefore, we consider how these interpretations produce normality amongst a perceived stigma of Islam in the West in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"53 1","pages":"195 - 207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73583231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Faith in the White House: Examining the Language and Performance of Spiritual Leadership in the U.S. Presidency","authors":"Kirsten A. Eddy","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.1996999","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.1996999","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Bridging scholarly perspectives across disciplines and within communication subfields on spirituality, civil religion, and storytelling in political discourse, I argue the U.S. president performs as a spiritual leader in ways scholars have generally overlooked – not necessarily by invoking a traditional ideology, but by summoning a moral language of solidarity through a compelling, unitary vision and uniquely “American” values. Drawing on a multimethod design combining a qualitative content analysis of six U.S. presidents’ speeches during times of crisis (N = 19) with survey data (N = 374), this research first assesses how modern presidents have employed a language of spiritual leadership over time and then examines public perceptions of these performances, exploring the roles of identity and partisanship in these perceptions. Results show the performativity of spiritual leadership may fail, to some extent, because of growing partisanship: In a “post-sorting” America with fewer cross-cutting identities, appeals to the “sacredness” of the presidency may no longer be able to take root. This research offers a framework for examining the language and performance of spiritual leadership in a variety of political and discursive contexts.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"60 1","pages":"173 - 194"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90056264","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Language of Islamophobia in Right-Wing British Newspapers","authors":"Salman Al-Azami","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2021.1972667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2021.1972667","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT British Muslims have been at the center of Western political and media discourse in the past two decades, thanks to terrorism and increased number of Muslims in the West. Research on Muslims in the media suggests that Islam and Muslims are positioned as a “threat to security” by a section of the British news media that implies Islam as incompatible to mainstream British way of life. The present study uses Critical Discourse Analysis method to examine how three right-wing British newspapers, The Sun, The Daily Mail, and The Daily Telegraph, use language to position Islam and Muslims as culturally unassimilable and complicit in terrorism. Considering the complexity of what Islamophobia means, the paper investigates whether the language used in news articles and opinion columns is overtly or covertly Islamophobic.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"22 1","pages":"159 - 172"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90250725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}