Mediatisation and its Impact on Religious Institutions

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As mediatisation is key to this essay, it is important to firstly define it in order to elaborate on its effects on religious institutions. Mediatisation is a new theoretical framework that describes a process through reframing questions regarding the influence of various media in culture and society (Hjarvard, 119). Initially mediatisation referred to a process of disempowerment, now it describes the power of media institutions, values and technologies and their increasing autonomy. Media no longer mediate power, but rather constitute it (Deacon, 1033). This is a metaprocess concerned with the appropriation of and adjustment to media logics by, in this case religious institutions into their own various cultural practices (Lunt, 466).
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Media is nowadays a vital information source and discussion forum for topics relating to religion; this kind of interaction with religious issues, challenges the authority of religious institutions. The places (churches), representatives (ministers etc and texts (bible etc) are relocated to a minor role when it comes to spiritual matters and religious issues, one can google these things themselves (Hjarvard, 125). Online metrics have become more important potentially than actually going to church, pageviews, Twitter followers, and so on are key to religious organisation, the question is do these things actually bring people to the Church ().Due to media becoming this important source of information, furthermore, the place to visit for engaging in spiritual matters, the media have acquired what used to be the Church’s power to frame and define religious ideas. (Hjarvard, 125). Subsequently, media become the producers and distributors of religious content, thus, influencing the ways in which users and audiences interact with the institution. Media, through mediatisation has the power to create virtual worlds that invite people to take part in the experiences of a religious-like character - FOR EXAMPLE. Additionally, social media have to an extent replaced the church as a platform …show more content…

Hjarvard, discusses the concept of banal religion, an implicit, ‘unwaived flag’ and religion that may come to be associated with religious meaning through the “media’s representational practices, despite not including explicit religious meaning (Hjarvard, 128) These are alternative religions, seen in film, books, computer games and their accompanying websites that are created and consumed by media and fans alike; religious symbols and actions blend to invite religious-life experiences and interests (Hjarvard, 126).Through agenda-setting functions (McComb 2004), both fictional and factual media influence the type of information about religious issues that circulate in society (Hjarvard, 126). both individual and collective religious imagination are created and maintained “by a series of experiences and representations in the media that may have little or no relationship with institutionalised religions” (Hjarvard, 128). Take for example the religion of the Jedi Knights (http://www.jedichurch.org/) that now has a place in the New Zealand Census. Popular Culture and Religion share a “nebulous relationship” (Journal of Religion and Pop Culture). Pop Culture media invent entirely new paradigms, or rather religiosities to convey religious

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