The Handbook of Religion and Communication

Provides a contemporary view of the intertwined relationship of communication and religion

The Handbook of Religion and Communication presents a detailed investigation of the complex interaction between media and religion, offering diverse perspectives on how both traditional and new media sources continue to impact religious belief and practice across multiple faiths around the globe. Contributions from leading international scholars address key themes such as the changing role of religious authority in the digital age, the role of media in cultural shifts away from religious institutions, and the ways modern technologies have transformed how religion is communicated and portrayed.

Divided into five parts, the Handbook opens with a state-of-the-art overview of the subject’s intellectual landscape, introducing the historical background, theoretical foundations, and major academic approaches to communication, media, and religion. Subsequent sections focus on institutional and functional perspectives, theological and cultural approaches, and new approaches in digital technologies. The essays provide insight into a wide range of topics, including religious use of media, religious identity, audience gratification, religious broadcasting, religious content in entertainment, films and religion, news reporting about religion, race and gender, the sex-religion matrix, religious crisis communication, public relations and advertising, televangelism, pastoral ministry, death and the media, online religion, future directions in religious communication, and more.

• Explores the increasing role of media in creating religious identity and communicating religious experience
• Discusses the development and evolution of the communication practices of various religious bodies
• Covers all major media sources including radio, television, film, press, digital online content, and social media platforms
• Presents key empirical research, real-world case studies, and illustrative examples throughout
• Encompasses a variety of perspectives, including individual and institutional actors, academic and theoretical areas, and different forms of communication media
• Explores media and religion in Judeo-Christian traditions, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, religions of Africa, Atheism, and others

The Handbook of Religion and Communication is an essential resource for scholars, academic researchers, practical theologians, seminarians, mass communication researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students taking courses on media and religion.

Contributors ix

Introduction 1

Part I Theoretical Background 5

1 Academic Approaches to Communication, Media, and Religion 7
Lynn Schofield Clark and Heidi Ippolito

2 Communication, Media, and Religion Research: Theoretical Roots 23
Stephen Garner

3 Theology and Communication 39
Paul A. Soukup S.J.

4 Religious Traditions and Ethics in Communication 55
Robert S. Fortner

Part II Theological Perspectives 69

5 Christianity and the Mass Media 71
Mary Catherine Kennedy Copyrighted Material

6 Communication in Judaism and Islam 83
Yoel Cohen and Hadi Enayat

7 Religious Communication in Asia 99
Anthony Le Duc and Keval J. Kumar

8 African Religions and Communication 117
Joseph Muyangata and Mark Fackler

9 Atheism and the Media 131
Teemu Taira

Part III Religions as Actors 145

10 Religious Broadcasting: An Overview, 2000–2021 147
Jim McDonnell

11 Religious Personalities and Televangelism 165
Paul A. Soukup S.J.

12 Public Relations and Advertising 181
Carlo Nardella

13 “Survival and Salvation”: Religious Situational Crisis Communication Strategies 197
Gregory P. Perreault, Mildred. F. Perreault, and Monica Crawford

14 Web Presence 213
Amanda Sturgill

Part IV Individual Religious Communication 229

15 Pastoral Ministry and Communication 231
Daniella Zsupan-Jerome

16 Piety, Religious Identity, and the Media 241
Damian Guzek and Piotr S. Bobkowski

17 Youth, Education, and Media 257
Mary E. Hess

Part V Media Institutions 271

18 Mediatization 273
Knut Lundby

19 Reporting Religion News 287
Yoel Cohen

20 Entertainment 301
Allan Novaes

21 Religion and Film 315
Joel Mayward

22 Documentary Film and Religious Faith in Historical Perspective 337
John P. Ferré

Part VI Functional Perspectives 351

23 The Role of Media in Creating Communities of Religious Belief and Identity 353
Myna German

24 Religion and Meaning 365
Johannes Ehrat

25 Religious Rituals, Pilgrimages, Festivals, and Media: Exploring the Interface 383
Gnana Patrick

26 Death, Spirituality, and Digital Afterlife 399
Johanna Sumiala

Part VII Cultural Perspectives 415

27 Incipient Diversity: Gender and Race in Media and Religion Research 417
Chiung Hwang Chen

28 Material Religion 433
Felicia Katz-Harris

29 The Sex–Religion Matrix 453
Ruth Tsuria and Jason Bartashius

30 Authority, Religion, and Media 469
Míriam Díez Bosch and Alba Sabaté Gauxachs

31 Religion and Development Communication 487
Robert A. White

Part VIII Approaches in New Technologies 503

32 Internet, Mobile Technology, and Religion 505
Miriam Díez Bosch and Josep Lluís Micó

33 Online Religion 521
Rohit Chopra

Index 537

“Overall, this new Handbook on Religion and Communication has excellently interwoven what it richly offers with what it promised to communicate and achieve. References are extensive, and the minimal overlaps in topics are explicable considering the depth of its content and scope. Akin to religion and communication, the handbook is certainly a mediated treasure.” – Religion and Social Communication, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2023), Journal of the Asia Research Center for Religion and Social Communication

“…this book is a welcome addition to the study of religion and communication. Its chapters provide a useful entry point for those just beginning to explore this field of study, and, even for seasoned scholars, the book’s discussion of multiple relevant theories, theological perspectives, and practical areas, provide a good primer for expanding their research into new areas.” - Mass Communication and Society, Volume 26, Issue 4 (2023)

“…This handbook makes an important contribution by accounting for the diversities that exist in the encounter between religion and communications. This is its core strength.” - Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture 12 (2023) 363-379

“The editors have put together a brilliant collection of thought-provoking, well-written essays which appear to be the first comprehensive global collection of its kind.” – Communication Research Trends, Volume 42(2023) No. 4

“Overall, The Handbook on Religion and Communication provides an excellent entry point into a rich subfield that is accessible for scholars at all levels. The breadth and depth of its coverage, inclusion of diverse of religious groups and practices, and abundant references for further reading (and viewing) make this book a vital text in religion and communication scholarship.” - Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, © 2024 Kaitlyn Lindgren-Hansen

“The collection fits nicely under the wider umbrella of communication discourse­an umbrella allowing the alignment of religious studies with sociology, anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines.” - Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 1-3, 2024

YOEL COHEN is Professor Emeritus of Mass Communication, and former Chair of The School of Communication, at Ariel University, Israel. He is a chairperson of the Religion and Communication working group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). He is the author of God, Jews and the Media: Religion and Israel's Media; Media Diplomacy; and editor of Spiritual News: Reporting Religion Around the World.

PAUL A. SOUKUP, S.J., is Professor and past Head of the Department of Communication at Santa Clara University, where he teaches courses in technology, communication, and theology. He is the author of Communication and Theology a Christian Communication: A Bibliographical Survey Media; and The Media Ecology of Theology: Communicating Faith Throughout the Christian Tradition, and co-editor of Mass Media and the Moral Imagination and Fidelity and Translation: Communicating the Bible in New Media.

Despite ongoing cultural shifts away from religious institutions, religious belief and practice continue to be portrayed in film, television, and other traditional mass media sources. New communication technologies, social media platforms, and mobile internet devices are changing religious belief and practice, as well as offering innovative ways to communicate religion around the world.

The Handbook on Religion and Communication explores the contemporary landscape of communication, media, and religion in a truly global context. Contributions from leading international scholars provide a comprehensive view of the complex and increasingly intertwined relationship of media and religion in the digital age.

Representing a diverse range of religious traditions and academic perspectives, more than 30 chapters address key topics such as the changing role of religious authority, the impact of new media on religious identity, evolving theological and cultural approaches to religiosity, the use of mass media to communicate religious experience, and more.

Featuring comprehensive introductions to the academic study and foundational theories of religious communication, The Handbook on Religion and Communication is an essential resource for scholars, researchers, journalists, educators, those working in applied theology, seminarians, mass communication researchers, and undergraduate and graduate students.