Religion and the media

Religion in the U.S.

• The United States is the most religious of all industrialized countries, according to polls

• Religious representations in media are controversial– Have tended to shy away from religion on

television, in movies, etc.

Religion in the media

• Religious content– Electronic church– Christian rock

• Religion as news• Religion as a plot point

– Religious characters– Demon possession, etc.

• Religious symbolism in other content– Crosses, mystical themes, parables

Religious representations are found in:

• Music• Music videos• Movies• News (especially print)• Magazines• Internet• Less common:

– Television

The role of religion in TV series

• “Generally speaking, religion plays no apparent part in the lives of entertainment series characters.”– (Harris, 1999)

• In 1990, only 5% of prime-time characters had an identifiable religious affiliation, compared with 89% of U.S. public– Over half of the characters that had an

affiliation were Roman Catholic– Non-Christians rare, stereotyped

• (name, occupation, irritating New York dialect; terrorists or oil sheiks with harems)

• (Source: Skill, Robinson, Lyons and Larson, 1994)

Concentration

• 46% of Christians in the study appeared in 3 episodes—24 Catholics in two episodes of Father Dowling Mysteries, and 9 Protestants in one Amen episode.

                                           

Proportion of characters identified as linked to religious group, organization of

belief system, prime time 1990

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

No affiliation Affiliation

% of characters

Religious affiliation of speaking characters, network prime time 1990

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

% of all characters

Religious behaviors and references, prime time 1990

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

%

Valence of religious behaviors and references

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Positive Negative Unclear

• Often or mostly negative: Slang references, God belief & power, devil & evil references

• Often or mostly positive: Religious group reference, Prayer, Other religious themes

Salience of religious behaviors and references

0%5%

10%

15%20%

25%30%

35%40%45%

50%

Central Secondary Marginal

Centrality

• Religious group reference often central

Context of religious behaviors and references

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Serious Humorous Unclear

Conclusions:

• “The results of this study suggest that the religious side of prime time characters’ lives are not typically presented on television. Very few characters have an identifiable religious affiliation and even fewer engage in prayer, attend church, or participate in group religious activities.”

• (p. 264)

• 1) religion is most often presented as an emotional expletive during times of crisis,

• 2) religion is framed as a predominantly personal and private activity, and

• 3) religion is rarely central to the storyline or theme of a program

2002 Prime Time

• 39 episodes, 548 speaking characters– (Clarke, 2003)

• 55.5 hours, 549 characters– (Clarke, 2005)

% of characters that could be coded as religious

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% not clearly religious % indicating religiousorientation

Level of devotion

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Indeterminate Nominallyreligious

Devout Not religious

TV characters US Population

U.S. population: 2 or more times a month = devout, Once a month or less = nominally religious Never = Not religiousSource: Clarke, 2005

TV characters’ vs. U.S. religious denomination

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Protestant All others

TV Characters U.S. Population*

Source: Clarke, 2005

Network influence

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

PAX WB NBC CBS ABC FOX UPN

% Religious Characters % All Characters

Source: Clarke, 2005

6 of 55 shows contribute 72% of religious characters

0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%16%

Body &Soul

Frasier 7thHeaven

Doc Reba EverybodyLoves

Raymond

% of Religious Characters % of All Characters

Salience of religious characters

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

Major Secondary Background

Religious Characters All Characters

Source: Clark, 2005

Religious professionals

• Outside of religious programming, they are underrepresented

• Mostly shallow portrayals– Exception Father Mulcahy

• Touched by an Angel

Religion in the news

• Personality centered– Pope

– Flamboyant TV preacher• Especially extremists

• Religious events covered– Roman Catholicism

• Ceremony, pageantry

– Protestant Fundamentalism• Dogmatic ideology; political activism

Treatment of religion

• Prime time broadcast, 2003-2004

• 2,344 treatments of religion, about one per hour

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

ABC Fox ITV UPN CBS NBC WB

Treatments per hour

Topics

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Faith Institution Laity Clergy

PositiveNeutralMixedNegative

Source: Eichenberg, 2005