Religion & Communication (Aug 2014)
Impacts of Mediatization on Creating a New Image of Religion
Abstract
The new world circumstances have given a new orientation to media roles. These have resulted in new ways of portraying religion and religiosity in the media, ultimately leading to the emergence of a religious representation with media characteristics. This phenomenon, which is usually referred to as the mediatization of religion, is a complex, gradual, non-arbitrary, unpredictable, and incalculable process.Concerning the mediatization characteristics, this process has given rise to considerable impact on one's understanding of religion, which can in turn produce a new image of that. The article, therefore, tries to enumerate these influences and their impact on type of religiosity offered by the media. Though in a final analysis it seems Islam stands out among others and keeps its own status.
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