Christina Littlefield, Theresa M. de los Santos, Patrick G. Rear, Savannah M F Janssen
{"title":"Patriotism and a Free Press: A Content Analysis of Civil Religion in Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing and The Newsroom","authors":"Christina Littlefield, Theresa M. de los Santos, Patrick G. Rear, Savannah M F Janssen","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1531624","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1531624","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT American civil religion abounds in Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing, but an idealized patriotism is also pronounced in The Newsroom and Sorkin’s other works. A quantitative content analysis found that civil religion elements pop up roughly every three-and-a-half minutes in The West Wing and every four minutes in The Newsroom. Coding revealed that Sorkin primarily promotes civil religion in ways that affirm culture. Both shows refer to American documents such as the Constitution as sacred, drawing on these texts and famous figures for authority. Freedom of the press and its centrality to democracy dominates both shows, and both productions emphasize personal sacrifice for one’s nation. Overlap between the two shows indicates these values come close to Sorkin’s personal brand of civil religion, which provides a window into the civil religion of the wider entertainment and news media. This study opens up a fruitful vein of research for understanding today’s divided media landscape.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"20 1","pages":"41 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72945006","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":"Creating Meaning through Science: “The Meaning of Life” Video and Muslim Youth Culture in Australia","authors":"V. Gardner, S. Hameed","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1531622","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1531622","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Muslim youth cultures often are engaged by media both locally and globally. It is hypothesized they search for representations of Islam that allow them to frame their discourse in ways that unify rather than divide. Australia, with its diverse Muslim population, is a place where this sort of framing might seem especially important. A variety of Muslim youth cultures use science narratives in these unification efforts. These narratives are typically framed with scientists or people who present themselves as public figures to speak authoritatively for “Islam” or “science.” Frequently lost in these discussions are voices of ordinary Muslims engaging in acts of cultural production. We focus here on “The Meaning of Life” (2013), a video of a spoken word poem written and performed by Kamal Saleh, a young Muslim from Sydney, Australia. This expands prior discussions by examining how Muslim youth are actively shaping local and transnational cultures, rather than merely being acted upon by traditional media. We use analytical tools common in video analysis (Rose, 2016), applying them to data developed in processes described by Gardner & Hameed (2017) to understand how ideas about science within an Islamic context are reproduced.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"1 1","pages":"61 - 73"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88599477","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 Decade of Online Shopping in the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox Community","authors":"S. Lissitsa, Osnat Roth Cohen","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1531623","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1531623","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Based on large scale annual social surveys in Israel, the current study uses an innovation resistance perspective and domestication theory as frameworks for analyzing trends of Internet adoption and online purchasing behavior in Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox community over the past decade (between 2003 and 2012). During the last decade, rates of Internet access and online purchasing have continued to increase in the Ultra-Orthodox community. However, users in this group (similar to other religious groups in Israel) have yet to fully use the potential of online shopping. The odds ratio in Internet adoption and online shopping over time among the Ultra-Orthodox were higher compared to other religiosity groups. Our findings show that socio-demographic characteristics are effective for tracking Ultra-Orthodox Internet adoption. However, the power of these characteristics to differentiate Internet usage behaviors is much lower. Due to the linked processes of Internet domestication, increasing connectivity, and utilitarian Internet use the Ultra-Orthodox community may be considered an attractive target audience for online retailers.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"8 1","pages":"74 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84736440","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":"Lex Cantandi, Lex Credendi: A Content Analysis of Organizational Identity-Constructing Pronouns in Pre- and Post-Vatican II Catholic Hymns","authors":"J. Sigler, Max M. Renner","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1463714","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1463714","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article asks whether hymns written prior to and following the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) differ significantly in their use of self- and divine-referential pronouns and answers this question by content analyzing the lyrics of 196 hymns in two different hymnals used in Catholic parishes today. It finds that hymns written post-Vatican II contain significantly more self-referential pronouns as well as an interestingly different mix of divine-referential pronouns than hymns written pre-Vatican II. These findings contribute to our knowledge of how shifts in religious organizations’ identities find expression in liturgical texts, which is important for understanding how the religious identities of individuals and communities are socially constructed over time.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"26 1","pages":"12 - 27"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77511701","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}
Monique L. R. Luisi, Tim Luisi, Peter S. Bobkowski
{"title":"“A Very Dangerous Battleground”: How Abstinent Christian Men Select and Navigate Media in the Presence of Sexual Media Content","authors":"Monique L. R. Luisi, Tim Luisi, Peter S. Bobkowski","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1463706","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1463706","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Abstinent Christian men are frequently challenged when selecting and navigating media due to the presence of sexual content that presents images and ideas not aligned with their sexual self-concept. In this study, we explored themes that emerged from qualitative in -depth interviews of abstinent Christian men to understand their media selection, navigation, and sexual self-concept in the context of the sexual media practice model (Shafer, Bobkowski, & Brown, 2013). Participants’ media selection and navigation were influenced by faith, and participants often attempted to control or avoid situations where sexual media content were present.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"254 1","pages":"1 - 11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73456250","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":"Evangelical Christian Crisis Responses to Same-Sex Sex Scandals","authors":"Cylor Spaulding","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2018.1463717","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2018.1463717","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This research examines the crisis responses of four evangelical leaders (Paul Crouch, Ted Haggard, Lonnie Latham, and Eddie Long) involved in same-sex sex scandals by comparing their responses against those recommended by the situational crisis communication theory (SCCT). Using a quasi-case study approach to add context and richness to the SCCT, this research examined the leaders’ strategies and the response to them and found that the evangelical pastors generally adhered to the recommended strategies of the SCCT, thus reinforcing the broad applicability of the SCCT when handling a crisis, even in a religious context. Despite reinforcing the validity of the SCCT, this article also recommends the inclusion of additional categorical considerations for the SCCT for situations where a crisis inflicts spiritual or emotional harm, particularly for crises occurring in a religious environment.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"26 1","pages":"28 - 40"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2018-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73932315","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":"EOV Editorial Board","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2017.1396117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1396117","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"30 1","pages":"ebi - ebi"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74282999","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":"From Consensus to Division: Tracing the Ideological Divide Among American Catholic Women, 1950–1980","authors":"Maureen K. Day","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2017.1401408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1401408","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the changing images of womanhood within two American Catholic publications: Catholic Mind and Catholic Digest. In the early 1950s, the periodicals had similar constructions of women, with a divergence in thought in the 1960s. Catholic Mind wrote very little on women for the majority of the decade. Catholic Digest in the 1960s featured women who worked in traditionally male roles while they also maintained that women’s primary sphere was in the home. The difference between the two publications becomes stark in the 1970s. Catholic Digest leaned conservative to mainstream and focused on women’s roles in home and secular society without asking ecclesial questions. Catholic Mind’s articles on women primarily examined ecclesial roles (e.g., women’s ordination) and demanded equality in the secular world. This fissure in female identity among American Catholics coincides with the political divide in the United States more generally.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"51 1","pages":"129 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83401411","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":"From Sin to Sick: Digital Judaism and Pornography","authors":"Ruth Tsuria","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2017.1401407","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1401407","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores how a Jewish religious website dedicated to solving pornography addiction negotiates religion/tradition and science/technological modernity. Further, the article discusses how medicalization of sexuality is used to resolve inherent tensions in the practice of digital usage. Medicalization language transforms the GuardYourEyes.com website from a forbidden medium for ultra-Orthodox members into a clinical space, a tool for healing. Furthermore, medicalization language allows religious digital prosumers to speak freely about sexuality. By framing sexuality as a “problem of truth” (Foucault, 1998), the ultra-Orthodox authors of GuardYourEyes.com can speak about sex, without being guilty of breaking the admonition that forbids speaking about sex. However, this open discussion serves as a tool to discipline and regulate sexual behavior, thus maintaining the accepted community norms, albeit in a way that is revolutionary for this community. Furthermore, by supporting religious language with medical language, religion and science blur in a way that could potentially undermine both.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"1 1","pages":"117 - 128"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75925032","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":"Making a Mormon?: Peacemaking in U.S. Press Coverage of the Mormon Baptism for the Dead","authors":"G. Perreault, Margaret Duffy, Ariel Morrison","doi":"10.1080/15348423.2017.1401410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15348423.2017.1401410","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In the Mormon doctrine of posthumous baptism, people can be invited into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) community through baptism even after their death. When it was reported that the LDS had baptized Jewish Holocaust victims, this caused an uproar in the American Jewish community. The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Victims deemed the Mormon practice disrespectful and inappropriate. This study analyzes the news coverage of the negotiations between the group and the Mormon church. While such negotiations would typically be ripe for conflict-privileging coverage, news coverage of these negotiations actually emphasized peacemaking. Using the lens of narrative theory, this study found that, in reporting on negotiations between American Jews and Mormons, the press attempted to mend relations rather than emphasize conflict.","PeriodicalId":55954,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Media and Religion","volume":"3 1","pages":"141 - 152"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2017-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84350345","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}