Three Forms of Mediatized Religion: Changing the Public Face of Religion

Abstract

The text is a translation of the chapter by Stig Hjarvard from the edited volume “Media and Religion: The Nordic Perspectives”. Hjarvard develops a typology of the mediatized religion: (1) “religious media”, (2) “journalism on religion”, and (3) “banal religion”. While the first type corresponds in part to organized religion and may serve to project religious narratives into the public realm, the other two forms are driven primarily by various media considerations. Because of the mediatization of religion, he argues, “religious media” play only a marginal role in the construction of the public image of religion. “Journalism on religion” and “banal religion” may stimulate criticism of the religious institutions and produce more individualized and more bri-colage-like forms of religion.