Journalism and Religion

Religion is often a controversial subject for journalists, arguably with good reason: it can cloud the way in which a journalist portrays the truth.  There is the natural tendency to see reality through the lens of one’s religion and even to use writing as an opportunity to share information about the religion.  As a result, other journalists have feared this possibility and have striven to completely avoid religion in their pieces.  This dichotomy is exemplified in contrasting Pluto’s perspective with that of Kolob.  Kolob championed a theocracy as the ideal society with a journalistic duty to disseminate truth and life.  Such a society would emphasize taking an eternal perspective on life and would maintain that self-worth comes from obedience and selflessness.  Forgiveness and repentance are made possible through Jesus Christ. By contrast, Pluto advocates a democracy in which time is of the essence, wealth and power determine self-worth, and forgiveness and repentance are not possible.  Although these two scholars lived hundreds of years before our time, their ideas act as a microcosm for the same conflict in journalism.

However, there is a way in which journalism and religion can intersect.  Even though they are in different realms, both seek to provide truth.  In fact, values journalists report on derive from religion.  Moreover, many people about whom journalists write are inspired by faith, and these stories often show how people use faith to deal with challenges and tragedy.  Indeed, organized religion has become a powerful institution in America felt by industries, farms, schools, medical research, and government.  As a result, religious news is increasing in popularity in the United States, especially in the South.

It is fascinating to observe the number and variety of daily news in various outlets discussing religion.  Eric Marrapodi from CNN broaches the issue of religion in education and sports in his article in which he describes the quandary LDS football players face at the predominately Catholic university Notre Dame: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/27/mormon-linebacker-helps-lead-catholic-notre-dame-to-national-championship-game/.  New York Times’s Nurit Novis Deutsch takes a more personal approach and describes intimate conversations with her children about religion: http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/an-agnostic-talks-to-her-children-about-god/?ref=religionandbelief

As a member of the LDS faith, Bruce L. Christensen’s counsel offers me and current journalists a way to reconcile and enhance one’s written work within our Church’s standards.  It is important for us to not only understand how the media functions, but also to commit to communicate messages of the Gospel through media.  Whenever we are in doubt, we can always prayerfully follow the counsel of the brethren about how to use the media.

Trapped by the Mormons

Ironically, during the time in which Trapped by the Mormons was produced, apparently the Salt Lake Theater thrived and Utahns thoroughly enjoyed the theater.  Various LDS church leaders have expressed the sentiment that the goal of motion pictures together with all other media is to further values and civilization. Trapped by the Mormons has absolutely nothing to do with these statements, and its criticism of Mormons is so far-fetched that it is quite comical even to LDS audiences.  The premise of this British film is to put forth the notion that Mormons supposedly lured young women to Utah to become wives.  In this film, Isoldi Keene puts the innocent Nora Prescott under a trance, and the iris of the camera zooms in on Isoldi’s eyes to create the image of his eyes pulsating.  The blatant melodramatic captions in the silent film focusing on Isoldi’s overpowering “manhood” combined with farcically unbelievable elements, such as Nora’s father overcoming his paralysis when standing up to the “bad Mormons,” makes the film incredibly amusing.  However, when James V. D’Arc discussed the film with the audience before and after showing it to us, the film is painted in a different light.  While it is still certainly amusing, it is important to note that when it was first shown, the LDS Church found it offensive and far from amusing.  In fact, the Church’s reaction to Trapped by the Mormons is, fascinatingly enough, extremely similar to its reaction to the recent Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, which also pokes fun at the LDS faith: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/06/entertainment/la-et-cm-mormon-church-lds-ads-book-of-mormon-playbill-20120906.  D’Arc invites us to view Trapped by the Mormons as a barometer of cultural perceptions at a time in which imagery and motion were used to convey meaning.  This discussion enhanced my experience watching this film, as I not only found it hilarious, but I also took away the more sobering message that there are current productions trivializing the LDS faith.  While the next generation may laugh at The Book of Mormon, our generation, just as the original viewers of Trapped by the Mormons, largely find it offensive and harmful to the world’s perception of the LDS faith.

Lane Williams's "Exploratory Meeting: Is it Time to Create a Mormon Media Studies Association?"

Offering insight into a controversial but relevant topic, Lane Williams initiated a stimulating conversation about whether or not it is time to formally organize a Mormon Media Studies Associate to examine the Mormon media.  Making his lecture the form of a dialogue seems to echo the open-ended and still undecided answer to that question.  Some thoughts from the audience included that organizations and events happen organically, and it seems that a Mormon Media Studies Association is something that is naturally evolving through popular demand.  For example, the Mormon History Association started small but got bigger over time.  There has been a rising interest shown in online forums such as the Google Groups Mormon Media Studies.  Because of this increasing pertinence and demand, the BYU Communications Department co-sponsored the first Mormon Media Studies Symposium in 2010 with BYU TV.  This symposium included numerous lecturers in different disciplines, which thus combines academics who are studying the subject from different vantage points and practitioners who are actually participating in the Mormon media.

However, the future of such symposiums is unclear.  It is important to note that this symposium is aptly titled “Mormon Moment(s) and the Media,” and while it focuses upon Mormon moments both historically and currently, the LDS faith has especially been in the limelight in large part due to having a Mormon being a presidential nominee in the 2012 election.  As the media scrutiny about Mormonism fades somewhat from the intense coverage this year, will the demand to have Mormon Media Symposiums lessen?  Some, such as Dan Merica in his CNN article entitled “Romney’s Loss Closes Out ‘Mormon Moment,’” argue that it is the end of media interest in Mormons: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/08/romneys-loss-closes-out-mormon-moment/. 

Mr. Williams and other members of the panel propose having a journal devoted to the subject as a possible solution to maintain discussion and study of how media relates to Mormonism.  He notes that a crucial caveat of such a journal would be for it to acquire enough prestige to give incentives for professors to submit articles. With a variety of different types of media outlets discussing Mormonism, there is a desire with LDS communities across the world to come together, understand, interpret, and help change the way in which the LDS faith is portrayed.  Moreover, given how the media has become a central part of people’s lives, the current generation is the first to not see themselves as separate from the media. 

Although Mr. Williams did not propose concrete solutions because this issue is still debated and discussed, he raised a number of important questions about the definition of and how to keep Mormon media studies alive.  Because Mormon media studies is a subgroup of both Mormon studies and media studies, it is difficult to make decisions about what sort of direction the subject can and will follow.  However, the most central and inspiring point of Mr. Williams’s lecture is that mass media is the greatest communication we have.  Technology is shifting so rapidly that if we cannot grab onto it and analyze what is happening, we are doing a disservice to young people.  My generation needs a group to be able to clarify where Mormonism and the media is going.  This lecture has galvanized me to include studying and participating in Mormon media studies as a part of my future.