America Media: A Religious Media Case on the U.S. Market
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15633/pch.3613Keywords:
America, Catholic press, Church, consortium, Facebook, Internet, Jesuits, magazine, mass-media, podcasts, social media, USA, YouTubeAbstract
In the whole world, independently of the country, we observe the process of media concentration. More and more huge consortia and media groups are being created. This often causes small, individual, autonomous titles, portals, radio or television stations to be displaced. This process of media evolution also affects religious media. An example of this could be the America Media consortium, with headquarters in New York. It belongs to the Jesuits, the Catholic order, and it is administered and developed by the same order. This descriptive study presents the process of the evolutionary transformation of America weekly magazine, which is over 100-years old, into a multi-dimensional media platform with a global scope. The new and modern media consortium is developing the wonderful history of the printed Catholic magazine. It is present in all the most important media areas: magazine, radio, television and internet. According to global trends, a key factor in America Media is the social media through which they bring a large number of readers, listeners and viewers. Most popular are radio podcasts and TV interviews available via Facebook and the YouTube channel. This evolutionary process is presented in the context of variety of Catholic American media. The specific elements of the mission of the Catholic consortium, the adopted development strategy, possible perspectives of this media complex in the near future, and existing difficulties are also discussed in this paper. The study was largely based on a visit made to America Media headquarters in October 2018.
References
About us, The Tablet, https://www.thetablet.co.uk/about (17.01.2020).
America. The Jesuit Review, https://www.americamagazine.org (17.01.2020).
America Media The Jesuit Review. About America Media, https://www.americamagazine.org/about-america-media (17.01.2020).
America Media, a Jesuit Ministry, YouTube Channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKrLOIYtxTfjkBy5ho3FSaA (17.01.2020).
EWTN ‒ Eternal Word Television Network, http://www.ewtn.com (17.01.2020).
First Things, https://www.firstthings.com (17.01.2020).
Gęsiak L., Reform of the Vatican media, a difficult search for a new path, “The Person and the Challenges” 7 (2017) 2, pp. 5–22.
Lombardo M. F., Founding Father. John J. Wynne, S.J. and the Inculturation of American Catholicism in the Progressive Era, Leiden-Boston 2017, Brill.
Margolies J., Media Headquarters With Room to Report, Videotape and Worship, “The New York Times” (New York Edition), 18 of July 2018, p. B6.
Martin J., The Examen with Fr. James Martin S.J., https://examen.libsyn.com (17.01.2020).
McLoughlin M., Catholic Magazines and Periodicals, in: M. Glazier, T. J. Shelley (eds.), The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History, Collegeville, Minnesota 1997, The Liturgical Press, p. 275.
Paul VI, Inter Mirifica. Decree on the Media of Social Communication, point 3, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19631204_inter-mirifica_en.html (17.01.2020).
Pew Research Center, Newspapers Facts Sheet, https://www.journalism.org/fact-sheet/newspapers (17.01.2020).
Pew Research Center, Participation in Electronic and Offline Religious Activities, https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/06/religion-and-electronic-media/pf_14-11-06_faithsocial-01-2 (17.01.2020).
Pew Research Center, Religion and Electronic Media, https://www.pewforum.org/2014/11/06/religion-and-electronic-media (17.01.2020).
Stahel T. H., America, in: M. Glazier, T. J. Shelley (eds.), The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History, Collegeville, Minnesota 1997, The Liturgical Press, p. 21–22.
The Sacred Heart Messenger. A modern message in a much-loved tradition; https://www.messenger.ie (17.01.2020).
The Tablet, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tablet (17.01.2020).
Voices, James Martin, S.J. Editor et Large, America, the Jesuit Review, https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/james-martin-sj (17.01.2020).
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Leszek Gęsiak
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The author declares that he or she has full copyright to the work, and such copyright it is not limited to the extent applicable to this declaration, that the article is an original work and that it does not infringe any third-party rights.
The author agrees to a free-of-charge, non-exclusive and non-restricted use of the work by Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow i.e.:
- to record and duplicate: make copies of the work by means of printing, reprography, magnetic or digital storage;
- to circulate the original or the copies of the work (disseminate, lend or lease the original or copies thereof, publicly display, screen or make the work publicly available so that everyone is able to access it at the time and in place they wish to do so);
- to include the work in a compilation;
- the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow may grant sublicenses Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland
The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow makes the work available on the Journals Platform belonging to the University, according to the licence Creative Commons Acknowledgement of authorship-Non-commercial use-Without derivative work 3.0 Poland. Accordingly, the author authorises all interested parties to use the work on the following conditions:
- the author and the title of the work will be listed,
- the place of publication (name of the periodical and an Internet link to the originally published work),
- the work will be distributed in a non-commercial way,
- no derivative works will be created.
The UPJPII Press does not waive any of its copyrights to any target group.
