The Media, Culture, and Religion Perspective: Discovering a theory and methodology for studying media and religion

Robert White

INTRODUÇÃO

The cultural studies analysis of the media has now become a dominant paradigm of communication research, and the “Media, Religion, and Culture” focus is a central paradigm in research on religious media. For example, the biannual international conference on “Media, Religion, and Culture” usually draws from 300 to 600 people from around the world, virtually all carrying on research on media and religion from a cultural studies perspective. The cultural studies approach recognizes the importance of so-called “administrative research” used by broadcasters to measure the reach and effectiveness of programming, but argues that quantitative effects research really does not answer the central questions of religious media.

Religion is a personal response, seeking meaning in life and in one’s universe. Religious expression is generally found within institutional religion, but the formal creed, rituals, devotions, and moral codes do not exhaust the personal experience of religion. The central question of the cultural studies approach is concerned with how individuals in groups use media to construct religious meaning in life and how this religious meaning relates to many other aspects of human life. This approach typically draws its theories and methodologies, not from psychology, functionalist sociology, or quantitative analysis, but from cultural anthropology, philosophy, literary studies, drama, and history. The methods of research are no less rigorous, but these are much closer to a tradition of humanities than to behavioral sciences

Until the 1970s virtually all research on media and religion was attempting to answer the questions of religious broadcasters as to what effects they were having. Most religious programs claimed to be having large audiences—impressed with what one can do with the media compared to the Sunday sermon—and they generally claimed to be “converting ” many people. Others were skeptical, and the research was brought in to settle this kind of dispute. Gradually, however, researchers moved away from these “effects” questions to how people are creating meaning from media . . . and many other sources. How and why did this move to a new set of questions in research on religious media come about? The present essay will explore this question.

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