"This article will describe the impact of North American religious television in two very different Latin American contexts: Guatemala in Central America and Brazil in South America. From these common North American roots, Guatemala and Brazil provide contrasting case studies of how religious entrep
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reneurs struggle to place their messages in the media marketplace. Guatemala provides a study in marginality: despite having built impressive religious institutions, Guatemala’s Pentecostal television preachers have had little success in getting their message before the general populace on commercial television. Guatemala’s highly fragmented social and ecclesial climate has led to fierce competition for the loyalty of the faithful between religious entrepreneurs who have only limited impact in the larger society. Brazil, on the other hand, provides examples of Pentecostal preachers who have built successful religious franchises that have accumulated sufficient resources to finance major incursions into the commercial media. The concluding section will explore how symbolic goods are marketed in today’s global religious supermarket." (Introduction, page 49)
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"This book moves beyond sensationalism to consider how the evangelical movement has effectively targeted Americans—as both converts and consumers—since the 1970s. Thousands of products promoting the Christian faith are sold to millions of consumers each year through the Web, mail order catalogs,
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and even national chains such as Kmart and Wal-Mart. The author explores the vast industries of film, video, magazines, and kitsch that evangelicals use to spread their message. Focusing on the center of conservative evangelical culture—the white, middle-class Americans who can afford to buy “Christian lifestyle” products—she examines the industrial history of evangelist media, the curious subtleties of the products themselves, and their success in the religious and secular marketplace. To garner a wider audience, evangelicals have had to carefully temper their message, but in so doing, they have painted themselves into a corner. In the postwar years, evangelical media wore the message of salvation on its sleeve, but as the evangelical media industry has grown, many of its most popular products have been those with heavily diluted Christian messages." (Publisher description)
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"This is the first book to bring together many aspects of the interplay between religion, media and culture from around the world in a single comprehensive study. Leading international scholars provide the most up-to-date findings in their fields, and in a readable and accessible way. Some of the to
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pics covered include religion in the media age, popular broadcasting, communication theology, popular piety, film and religion, myth and ritual in cyberspace, music and religion, communication ethics, and the nature of truth in media saturated cultures." (Publisher description)
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"Der Verfasser vertritt in dieser Studie die These, daß das Fernsehen religiöser sei, als Kirchenvertreter es ihm zutrauen. Religiöse Sendungen seien nicht notwendigerweise Minderheitenprogramme. Bieger begründet diese These damit, daß die Zuschauerzahlen der Gottesdienstübertragungen im ZDF s
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eit 1986 beträchtlich gestiegen sind, daß Pfarrerserien sich als Erfolgsprogramme erwiesen haben und daß auch Talkshows und Streitgespräche immer wieder auf religiöse und kirchliche Fragestellungen zurückgreifen. Allerdings steht außer Frage, daß sich das Verhältnis von kirchlich organisierter Religiosität und dem Medium Fernsehen als ein schwieriges darstellt. Absicht des Buches ist es, die Kommunikationsstrukturen der Kirche und des Fernsehens zu untersuchen, um herauszufinden, wie religiöse Rede im Fernsehen möglich ist. An konkreten Sendungen versucht er deutlich zu machen, daß "mehr geht" als bisher Gewohnheitsrecht der Kirchen war. Um diese Veränderungen durchzuführen, bedarf es allerdings auch der Veränderung bestehender Organisationsstrukturen." (Canisius 1/96)
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"Historisch stand die evangelische Kirche den im Entstehen begriffenen Massenmedien - zunächst der säkularen Presse, später dem Film und noch in den 20er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts dem Rundfunk - distanziert gegenüber. Da die Medien ihr aber auch Möglichkeiten zu einer medialen Verkündigung e
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röffneten und der Popularisierung kirchlicher Themen in der Öffentlichkeit dienten, hat die evangelische Publizistik stark in die weltlichen Massenmedien hineingewirkt und ihre eigene Medienarbeit ausgebaut. Die Studie beschreibt und interpretiert die Grundzüge der evangelischen Publizistik von der Reformation bis in die jüngste Vergangenheit." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"The Religious Broadcast Management Handbook is a comprehensive sourcebook of practical information about radio and television broadcasting. Christian broadcasters need to know everything secular professionals in the same field need to know—and more. This book covers everything from buying air tim
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e to station ownership, from progamming to engineering." (Back cover)
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"What has been the influence of television on religion, and vice versa? Horsfield studies the institutional structure of television with this question in mind. Part I provides a historical overview of the development of religious television and an analysis of its structure; Part II is a survey of re
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levant empirical research; Part III is a projection of the future as indicated by current trends, and a suggested strategy for a realistic use of television by the church. His conclusion is that religious broadcasting has been overly influenced by television's institutional structure." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 662)
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"Subject matter, which is divided into books, dissertations and theses, and articles, covers a variety of subjects, ranging from personality profiles and studies of leaders to technical examinations of how the stations and programs function. Annotations are mostly for monographs. Subject/author and
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programs indexes." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 1657)
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"The co-authors - Swann, an ordained Presbyterian rninister who is currently managing WRFK-FM for the Virginia Theological Seminary, and Hadden, a professor of religious sociology at the University of Virginia - have made an intensive and critical study of religious broadcasting - examining its root
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s, its vast organization, its programming and messages, its electronic underpinnings, its audiences, and, most significantly, its broader implications for society." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 640)
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