"The study examines the case of a Shia online news agency, Shafaqna, to argue that Internet news production by different Muslim organizations has not been limited to propagation nor circulation of religiously sanctioned news but has also been utilized as a way of building interactive identity with r
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eligion as a public practice of digital significance. The case of Shafaqna demonstrates an increasingly participatory culture within religious institutions. This inlusion, however, is not so much about radically changing the oragnization of the hazwa, with its long transnational history of seminary education and public services. Rather, it is about integrating network strategies with the employment of new technologies so as to consolidate transnational associational ties within a long tradition of religious networks revolving aorund clerical authority. Such new strategies demand a new perspective and practicing authority that is both participatory and hierarchical." (Summary)
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"O texto é bem abrangente. Destaco alguns temas importantes: é fundamental o trabalho de todos, especialmente das mídias, em prol da unidade da Igreja; é fundamental que cada mídia consiga expressar a catolicidade; as mídias têm responsabilidades na formação da cidadania, conforme orientaç
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ão da doutrina social da Igreja; as mídias também são importantes para a catequese litúrgica, uma vez que “fazem escola” nas comunidades locais; a ética dos agentes que interagem nas mídias, particularmente na questão comercial de produtos ligados ou não à religião; cumplicidade na missionariedade da Igreja; compromisso com a Palavra, a Tradição e o Magistério, pois é isso que define a catolicidade de uma Midia que se diz a serviço da Igreja." (Dom Darci José Nicioli, presidente da Comissão Episcopal para a Comunicação e coordenador de todo o processo de composição do documento, em https://pascombrasil.org.br/aprovado-texto-de-orientacoes-pastorais-para-as-midias-catolicas-do-brasil)
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"Using the top three online forums used by Polish Catholics as a case study, this project explores the formation of these online communities. It then looks at the alternative authority structures that emerge online and how these lead to an individualised form of religious engagement that can develop
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independently of mainstream doctrine. Through highlighting how religious discourse in Poland is appropriated and creatively modified by users in fulfilling their own spiritual needs, this work reveals the constant interplay between online and offline religious contexts." (Publisher description)
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"Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero fue un gran comunicador, aunque no haya sido periodista”, nos dicen los autores de este texto. Y quienes tuvimos la suerte de presenciar su conversación en “la voz de los sin voz”, fuimos testigos de la verdad que hay en este aserto. Este gran comunicador no e
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ncontró acogida positiva en la mayor parte de los medios de comunicación; más bien, se vio contratado a una oposición férrea, llena de campañas de desprestigio y de informaciones tendenciosas. La numerosas citas que encontramos en este libro, muestran, con meridiana claridad, la dimensión del conflicto entre un pastor que se sentía obligado a hacer aterrizar la palabra del Dios-hombre en la realidad concreta que vivía el país, y grupos sociales –los que se expresaban a través de la mayoría de medios- que abandonaban su proclamado compromiso con la fe de Jesús y su obligación de dar noticias verdaderas, para defender privilegios injustos." (Editorial)
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"Richard Moon examines the application of hate speech laws when religion is either the source or target of such speech. Moon describes the various legal restrictions on hate speech, religious insult, and blasphemy in Canada, Europe and elsewhere, and uses cases from different jurisdictions to illust
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rate the particular challenges raised by religious hate speech. The issues addressed are highly topical: speech that attacks religious communities, specifically anti-Muslim rhetoric, and hateful speech that is based on religious doctrine or scripture, such as anti-gay speech. The book draws on a rich understanding of freedom of expression, the harms of hate speech, and the role of religion in public life." (Publisher description)
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"Contributors consider the ways Buddhism plays a role and is present in digital media through a variety of methods including concrete case studies, ethnographic research, and content analysis, as well as interviews with practitioners and cyber-communities. In addition to considering Buddhism in the
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context of technologies such as virtual worlds, social media, and mobile devices, authors ask how the Internet affects identity, authority and community, and what effect this might have on the development, proliferation, and perception of Buddhism in an online environment." (Publisher description)
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"The author analyses strong and weak points of the Church media in Slovakia. Her conclusions are based on more than ten previous researches in the field of Church and media, realized on the Catholic University in Ruzomberok, Slovakia. She states, that Slovak church media are exclusively pastoral, wi
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lfully resigning to the evangelization function. Marginal evangelization attempts (such as in Radio Lumen in the late 1990s) have failed. This means, inter alia, that they do not do journalism in its original sense. They act as public relations bodies of the bishop’s conferences and as an extension of spiritual service of the church to the believers. The competent decision-makers (i.e. church hierarchy) are not willing to subsidize evangelization medium, because the currently accepted doctrine is to use ‘their own’ media space to spread ‘their own’ messages. Thus, opening complex topics, covering opinion plurality and encouraging discussion, is regarded as harmful. This function is, in the last years, substituted by the commercial project of the Conservative daily Postoj, but this is neither a church nor religious medium. As the researches show, also the request of believing the audience for independent critical Church medium is disputable. The audience is – disregarding age – divided between the audience of the official church media and decent secular media. Between these two groups exists a relatively strong antagonism." (Abstract)
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"Religion, Media, and Marginality in Modern Africa is one of the first volumes to put new media and old media into significant conversation with one another, and also offers a rare comparison between Christianity and Islam in Africa. The contributors find many previously unacknowledged correspondenc
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es among different media and between the two faiths. In the process they challenge the technological determinism-the notion that certain types of media generate particular forms of religious expression-that haunts many studies. In evaluating how media usage and religious commitment intersect in the social, cultural, and political landscapes of modern Africa, this collection will contribute to the development of new paradigms for media and religious studies." (Publisher description)
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"Christianity as the predominant religion in Zimbabwe consists of several faith groupings, each of which responds to public events through the mass media. Mainline churches uphold a conventional human rights approach to faith-based political criticism, while Mapostori or Apostolic churches follow an
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Africanist form of faith and appear to condone some alignment with the authoritarian ruling party. In the sampled media coverage of three online newspapers, the political use of religious strategies or practices from various faith groups by the president and high-ranking party functionaries is reported from either the former government-sanctioned view or an oppositional stance. Moralist reprimand is levied at various politicians from a religious rationale, assuming good and evil, church and state, Christianity and African spirituality, which, however, remain abstract since there is no overall faith-based guidance for political behaviour beyond a secular constitution that still appears utopian. The critical discourse analysis suggests that complex relationships exist among the various faiths, causing diverse religious interpretations of political events. This suspension of Cartesian thinking results in a continuing circular logic of blame and prayer, disaster and prophesy instead of the use of constitutional democratic institutions to hold politicians accountable. Such logic seems sustained by politicized interpretations of spiritual entities, spiritual interpretations of political events and by the perceptions of the Zimbabwean public, who, as believers of one or other faith, is equally at the mercy of opportunistic ‘prophets’ from many denominations as it is targeted by the political powers of the day." (Abstract)
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"Escuchar a los pueblos indígenas y a todas las comunidades que viven en la Amazonía, como los primeros interlocutores de este Sínodo, es de vital importancia también para la Iglesia universal. Para ello necesitamos una mayor cercanía. Queremos saber ¿Cómo imaginan su “futuro sereno” y el
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“buen vivir” de las futuras generaciones? ¿Cómo podemos colaborar en la construcción de un mundo que debe romper con las estructuras que quitan vida y con las mentalidades de colonización para construir redes de solidaridad e interculturalidad? y, sobre todo, ¿Cuál es la misión particular de la Iglesia hoy ante esta realidad? Este Documento Preparatorio está dividido en tres partes correspondientes al método “ver, juzgar (discernir) y actuar”. Al final del texto se presentan preguntas que permitan un diálogo y una progresiva aproximación a la realidad y expectativa regional de una «cultura del encuentro» (EG 220). Los nuevos caminos para la evangelización y el plasmar una Iglesia con rostro amazónico pasan por las veredas de esa «cultura del encuentro» en la vida cotidiana, «en una armonía pluriforme» (EG 220) y «feliz sobriedad» (LS 224-225), como contribuciones para la construcción del Reino." (Preámbulo, página 2-3)
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"A evolução da sociedade dos meios para sociedade midiatizada fez com que as práticas de sentido alterassem as formas de estabelecimento de práticas sociais. Assim, o campo religioso altera seus modos de funcionamento em função de lógicas midiáticas e o catolicismo midiático é percebido co
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mo fenômeno, na apropriação midiática feita pelo movimento carismático. Problematiza-se como a emissora TV Canção Nova, do movimento carismático católico, elege na televisão e na juventude o papel de relacionamento com seus públicos a fim de propor uma adesão à fé. O estudo evidencia que o testemunho é a base estrutural do programa de TV PHN e serve de estratégia de contato para proposta de adesão da fé aos jovens." (Resumo)
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"Markus A. Weingardt hat rund um den Globus Beispiele für religiöse Friedensarbeit zusammengetragen. Er beschreibt die politischen und sozialen Hintergründe schwelender, manifester oder auch überwundener Konflikte und ihre Auswirkungen, stellt die Akteure vor und beleuchtet, mit welcher Methodik
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und welchem Friedensverständnis Gewalt abgebaut werden kann. Das Buch gewinnt nicht nur durch die Verknüpfung der religiös motivierten Friedensarbeit mit dem säkularen Instrumentarium der universalen Menschenrechte. Es erinnert auch daran, dass Konflikte prinzipiell lösbar sind, sofern ihre Ursachen erkannt und wirksam bearbeitet werden." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"In all Asian cultures, religion plays an irnportant role. How is this expressed and 'communicated' in word and deed, in rituals, but also in the daily life of peoples and their celebrations? Religious beliefs and practices 'dictate' in many ways behavior and customs. This has been the case over hun
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dreds of years and is still alive in many ways today. Do modern ways and means of communication, especially also the digital developments change, endanger or even promote such practices? If yes, how? It will be further important to see the communication dimensions of religion in general but also the specifics of holy books like the 'Bible, Qur'an, Upanishads, etc. which are in themselves already communication instruments for proclamation and religious practices. What does all this means for people of today being "permanently online, permanently connected" (Vorderer 2018) and part of a digital world? Can religious beliefs and practices also be transmitted or even 'performed' in and with digital means? How are religions presented and treated in the still existing general, big, also in the individual religion-owned and operated media like Christian, Buddhist, Moslem channels? And beyond single 'means': what could and should be the role of communication in interreligious dialogue for countries like Indonesia with a big Moslem population, Christian-majority Philippines or in a Buddhist country like Thailand? All this should be one way or another a special concern for serious social communication research which seems to not yet exist." (Pages 9-10)
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"This paper proposes that Asian religions can address the challenges of the post-truth mindset by resorting to powerful images within their traditions to communicate within and across traditions in order to promote religious unity and harmony. It asserts that the images employed by Jesus to refer to
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himself, namely, the Way, the Truth, and the Life are images that hold not only rich spiritual significance for Christians but can also resonate deeply with the Asian religious and spiritual outlook. These images may be explored by religious traditions in their own particular contexts and communicated to adherents (intrareligious communication). These images can also serve as the foundation upon which Asian religions can enter into dialogue with one another to build mutual understanding and collaboration (interreligious communication). The thesis is when Asian religions are able to employ shared images to communicate within and across religious traditions, they are able to reaffirm the important role of religion/spirituality in the present social milieu, at the same time resist the negative impact brought about by trends of thought that seek to degrade and relativize religious and spiritual truths." (Abstract)
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"This edition updates and develops the concerns of the emerging field especially also in view of growing technical developments. The section on Evangelizing communication has been partly re-written to more clearly indicate the communication dimension of the field." (Preface)
"Reporting Islam argues for innovative approaches to media coverage of Muslims and their faith. The book examines the ethical dilemmas faced by Western journalists when reporting on this topic and offers a range of alternative journalistic techniques that will help news media practitioners move away
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from dominant news values and conventions when reporting on Islam. The book is based on an extensive review of international literature and interviews with news media editors, copy-editors, senior reporters, social media editors, in-house journalism trainers and journalism educators, conducted for the Reporting Islam Project. In addition, the use of an original model – the Transformative Journalism Model – provides further insight into the nature of news reports about Muslims and Islam. The findings collated here help to identify the best and worst reporting practices adopted by different news outlets, as well as the factors which have influenced them. Building on this, the authors outline a new strategy for more accurate, fair and informed reporting of stories relating to Muslims and Islam. By combining an overview of different journalistic approaches, with realworld accounts from professionals and advice on best practice, journalists, journalism educators and students will find this book a useful guide to contemporary news coverage of Islam." (Publisher description)
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"Contemporary mobile phone technology has brought millions of apps into the pockets of users, including a wide variety oriented towards religious concerns. Such apps appear to be creating new forms of religious engagement, a process that is particularly visible within Indonesia. This paper will exam
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ine the so-called ‘Aa Gym’ app, one of the Islamic apps launched by the Indonesian popular preacher, Abdullah Gymnastiar, an early adopter of mobile technology for religious purposes. The paper argues that the Aa Gym app illustrates how the mediatization of religion inherent in mobile technologies is reshaping the way that Indonesians engage with Islamic teachings. First, ‘Aa Gym’ app has created new forms of religious engagement through an extension of religious interaction and communication in a media landscape. Second, ‘Aa Gym’ app has described that media has become a new site for the discovery of religious meanings as a result of the spread of religious authority. Thirdly, ‘Aa Gym’ app is a kind of embodiment of accommodation of media logic performed by the religious figure in order to remain accessible to the public which is increasingly media-saturated." (Abstract)
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