STATUS-QUO OF RELIGION AND MEDIA DURING PANDEMIC

Being a recurring theme in literature and as a genre of same both religion and media have been influenced people over centuries. Having contradictory nature, the impact of both during the horrific times of Covid-19 is significant. Adding trauma to the harsh realities experiencing by the people more than comforting them, both disciplines will be a prime focus in Post-Covid literature. This paper vividly examines the roles played by these mediums and the results they made in days of pandemic. It also scrutinize the association of these two during the pandemic as it is highly critical. Discussing the present and future scenario of the pair in backdrop of its impact on people the paper states that media will prevail and religion will collapse.

Newspapers and Dynamics of Religious Communication: The Test Case of Sufi News

Religion and the print media are two powerful motivators and sources of meaning, information and culture, and their relationship has been there seen since 19th century with the advent of industrial revolution. This research aims to analyze the portrayal of Sufism in the print media by investigating features of Sufi news stories of Urdu newspapers. For this purpose, this study applied qualitative approach to investigate news writings of national newspapers published from the city of saints, Multan. To provide a comprehensive overview, this study has analyzed news stories printed on the occasions of death anniversaries of prolific Sufi saints in four leading newspapers, Jang, Nawa-i-Waqt, Express and Khabrain, to contribute to the contemporary studies of religion and the print media. Probing the dynamics of religious communication, the study found the holy sketch of Sufi saints that portrayed them as great Muslim and spiritual mentors, and a heart of love and religious harmony. Their path and ideologies were recognized as the sources of inspiration for eternal success. The newspaper writings stated that Sufis are the treasures of the divine grace, wisdom and spiritual knowledge whose teachings address the love of God and Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the concept of piety, humbleness, pardon, the uncertainty of the world, and optimism. In this background, this research, with its results, is an important addition for a better understanding of the association of religion and media.

Introduction

The introduction lays out the primary argument and themes of the study, provides an orientation to religion and media, and defines the three central terms: religion, network, and disconnection. Fundamental promises affiliated networks with connection—friction-free technology, social unity, a utopian present, and perfect communication—and obscured the failures of networks to be or produce those things. Religion, while fueling those very promises, also participated in the disconnections that riddled telegraph networks: negotiating and occasioning technological breakdown, structuring social life on the violence of colonialism, investing in the impossibility of utopian futures, and fomenting the fundamental failures of communication. The final section provides an account of infrastructure to supplement theories of religion and networks.

French mainstream online press covering a Hollywood pacifist war drama: The case of Tu ne tueras point

This article outlines and discusses two aspects of the French mediatization of Tu ne tueras point ( Hacksaw Ridge) film: the relationship between media, normative secularism and religion in the context of the hegemony of mediatization as ‘media and communication-centered’ phenomenon. Based on the content analysis and discursive strategies of the biographical war drama chronicles, the contribution points out less developed empirical aspects in France regarding the relation between religion and media: (a) the media discourse is dependent on a normative narrative of secularism, (b) the media discourse represents and expresses a confusion between the sacred, religion and faith, deliberately created and maintained by the journalists, and (c) the media discourse is based on a conception of violence with modern origins.

Media as Religion. Stardom as Religion. Really? Christian Theological Confrontation

In the more recent scholarly literature on media, pop culture or celebrity studies, there has been a growing tendency to identify media, stardom and other pop culture forms of cult with religion. An increasing number of concepts have sprung up such as “media as religion” or “stardom as religion”. However, these concepts need to be critically scrutinized as to whether the use of specific theological terms in those concepts is sound and consistent—or, as the case may be, superficial. The primary aim of this paper is to examine whether there are essential intrinsic similarities between religion and media. To answer this question, we have examined the structural similarities between media and religion (by comparing their use of ritual and liturgy; emotions; cosmology; myth and archetype; and the cult of individualism in particular). Subsequently, we have analyzed the key terms that have emerged from those comparisons (religion and faith; God; emotions; community; liturgy; cosmology; archetypes; saints; individualism). The term religion is used in its broad sense; however, the subject is examined in detail within the context of Christian theology. We came to the conclusion that media religion is a non-theistic religio without God, with an exclusive emphasis on social cohesion. The absence of verticality, lack of transcendence to eternity as well as the non-existing relationship with God as a person—have determined the remaining partial conclusions presented herein.