Explain how the media might influence what people think about religion.

mindcandy

Hello,

Some thoughts:

One way the media may
influence the way people think of religion is not only in the actual media commentary about
religion, but in the manner the media (television, radio, physical/online print resources)
presents a 'religious' point of view. The media (intentionally or not) may overgeneralize and
exaggerate religious viewpoints, simply as a function of the debate-style format of most news
stories.

News stories very often are designed in a point/counterpoint
set-up, where two 'sides' of an issue are discussed and/or debated. An easy formula for a brief
television news segment, for instance, would be to have two guests commenting on something
newsworthy, from a neighborhood event to a Supreme Court ruling. The anchor then serves as a
moderator/facilitator for the two guests. The invited guests are seen as representing a certain
group's official/general point of view. One obvious problem with one guest representing the
'religious' point of view is that there are...