Page - 47 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 01/01

(Re)Making a Difference | 47www.jrfm.eu 2015, 1/1, 45–56 the study of religion.5 following the characterisation of various approaches to media- tisation, Hjarvard’s approach can be characterised as primarily “institutional”.6 This means it focuses on the implications of the increasing independence of media as an institution in society during the 20th century with regard to not only other institutions, such as the political, legal and economic systems, but also the increasing integration of the media’s logic or ways of working into all other forms of social interaction. Hjar- vard refers to media’s logic as “the institutional, aesthetic and technological modus operandi of the media” and discusses how this affects patterns of distribution of sym- bolic resources as well as enabling and structuring human communication.7 religion, like the media, is approached as a social institution, characterised by belief in a su- pernatural agency and governed by a particular set of formal and informal rules, and serving certain social functions in society. Hjarvard argues that mediatisation over time changes religion in three primary ways: • Media become the primary source of information about religious and spiritual is- sues in society. • Media transform religious content by moulding it according to genres of journal- ism, entertainment and fiction. • Media become the main social and cultural environments for moral and spiritual guidance and sense of community. The consequence is that mediatisation undermines the authority of religious institu- tions and contributes to individualised forms of religion. religion does not disappear from society, but the social forms of religion that thrive in late-modern society are primarily individualised, bricolage-like forms that are dependent on other institutions, such as public media organisations or commercial companies, for maintaining their service and legitimacy. Hjarvard has presented three varieties of mediatisated religion, which differ with regard to the control exercised by religious actors over the form of media, and thus the degree to which the general tendencies of mediatisation affect religion.8 • Religious media: refers to media organisations and practices primarily controlled and performed by religious actors, such as Christian dailies, islamic satellite televi- sion or the Web portal http://www.catholicscomehome.org/. • Journalism on religion: refers to how primarily news media bring religion into the political public sphere. in this genre, religious symbols and actors are mainly used as sources and have to accommodate to criteria such as news value. 5 Hjarvard 2011. 6 Couldry/hepp 2013. 7 Hjarvard 2011, 123. 8 Hjarvard 2012.