Channels of Belief 1990 John Ferre ~ essays on religious aspects of television broadcasting in the 1980s ~religion ~mass media

Title: Channels of Belief: Religion and American Commercial Television

Author: Edited by John P. Ferre / [Essays by Quentin J. Schultze, Horace M. Newcomb, Robert S. Alley, Judith M. Buddenbaum, John P. Ferre, Mark Fackler]

Description: First Edition. Hardcover. Black cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Previous owner's name/address rubber stamped on front free endpaper, else interior clean and crisp. Dust jacket has a small spot of wear to the bottom edge of the front panel; in an archival mylar sleeve.

Contents:
Introduction.
1. Television Drama as a Sacred Text (Quentin J. Schultze).
2. Religion on Television (Horace M. Newcomb).
3. Television and Public Virtue (Robert S. Alley).
4. Network News Coverage of Religion (Judith M. Buddenbaum).
5. Religious Television Spots (John P. Ferre).
6. Religious Watchdog Groups and Prime-Time Programming (Mark Fackler).
Notes.
Index.

In Channels of Belief, six scholars of the mass media discuss the religious significance of commercial television. The first two analyses examine the religiousness of commercial television broadly. The third explores the ''democratic humanism'' of those who create and produce the narratives that are watched. The next analyzes religion on network news, where democratic humanism is less apparent and where news coverage emphasizes events over beliefs. Religious television spots and religious watchdog groups are the subjects of the final two chapters.

Control of the public arena for religious expression, especially discussed in the final chapter, is an underlying concern throughout Channels of Belief. The authors recognize, and even affirm, the potential of broadcasting to service the religious needs of the public, but they also understand the technological, organizational, economic, and social constraints that shape the religious dimensions of American television.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine
Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Publisher: Iowa State University Press
Place: Ames
Year: 1990

ISBN: 0813806399

Keywords: television, television broadcasting, mass media, network news, religious aspects, media studies, United States,