The Framework of Television as a Gathering Place - Essay Example

The Framework of Television as a Gathering Place Televangelism continues to grow as more people embrace it. This can be largely attributed to the fact that people consider television as a place of gathering. Television as a gathering place is a theoretical framework, which in this case helps in explaining how media presents religion to its masses. In the theory, television is considered as an environment through which experiences, values and ideas are shared (Lotz 3). This leads to interaction among people. Television helps in shaping the social lives of people through sharing of ideas and meanings. Televangelism is an example of the role played by television in our social frameworks. Whereas the framework of television as a gathering place is characterized by limitations, it is, however, suitable for this research and will be helpful in interpreting the material. Television as a place of gathering means that it is considered a hemmed in system in which figurative interaction between people takes place. When talking about television as a place of gathering, one considers two main things. First, one must first consider its integration with the society; secondly, one must consider it as a source of meaning (Lotz 3). As an integration with the society, the television has a place in the society and people must watch it if they need to access information. The television is also a source of meaning because it enables human beings to understand events as they occur in the natural world. These two main aspects help us in understanding that television is largely a place that does not have any specific location. Religion, thus, capitalizes on the theoretical framework of television as a gathering place to reach out to people from different parts of the world. Importance of Television as a Gathering place Theoretical Framework Television as a gathering place is more suitable to explain the relationship between religion and media. It is a good fit for this research as it helps to show or indicate how the media presents religion. It also helps in explaining why, televangelism has continued to grow by day. The main aim of televangelism is to reach out to as many people as possible (Clarke 618). There are few chances of survival of Christianity if it lacks popularity. Christianity, for example, aims to reach to those people who live in countries where churches have been banned and Christianity is outlawed. In order to reach out to many people, Christians or missionaries turned to television as a place to spread religion. The television has a wide coverage because it reaches vast populations over a short period of time. All people in the United States own a television set, although not all watch it at the same time. However, it is approximated that a large number of Christians watch the television to view the sermons. The framework helps in interpreting the material needed for the research by providing statistics and findings, which help in interpreting the role played by television in spreading religion. Television channels provide facts through sharing of ideas on how televangelism has negatively and positively affected the spread of the gospel. One of the findings is that television as a place has been used by televangelists as a business center. Media reports have often shown the lavish lifestyles that televangelists live. This means that televangelism has led to religion being a business, which is done through donations and selling of disks and trinkets. As televangelists share the gospel to people, people share their money with them. On the positive side, however, the theory helps in showing how televangelism helps in spreading encouragement and hope to people. The donations that televangelists receive are an open testimony that many people appreciate their work. Televangelists also enjoy support from an audience that is loyal to them always (Clarke 618). Loyal audience constitutes the primary support for the existence of Christianity. Christianity depends largely on consistent audience who can support the activities of the church for it to continue providing services to the people. The framework provides statistics, which show that one out of three adults watch televangelists. Availability of statistics enhances the validity and dependability of available data. A large number of those who watch are mainly old women from the age of fifty- five. Male viewers account for 49.2 % of the viewers while female viewers account for 50.8% (Lee 2). In the society, males spend little time in the house; thus, they do not have time to watch the television especially concerning Christianity. This totals to millions of people worldwide. Family T.V, the church channel, God T.V and trinity broadcasting network are some of the Christian networks. Trinity broadcasting network is the largest Christian network in the world and covers Islamic regions such as Afghanistan. God T.V on the other hand plays contemporary music in order to attract youths. Television as a place of gathering is a theoretical frame that can help in explaining televangelism and its religious impact in the world. It, thus, has its own strengths and limitations as it explains the religious impact played by televangelism. One of its major strength is that television being considered a place is able to reach many people who watch and listen it. It creates an audience that associates itself with it. Trinity broadcasting network, for example, has been able to create a worldwide audience. One can, thus, broadcast from America to an audience that is thousands of miles away. Broadcasting to a large audience is a strength that television as a gathering place theory relies on when explaining the religious impact played by televangelism in the world. Television plays a major role as a societal framework by providing sensory relationships and communal congregations (Lotz 2). It is, hence, a center or an environment through which ideas and information is shared. This is a major strength since television is able to stand at the middle of all channels of communication. It explains why televangelism has continuously relied on television to spread religion throughout the world. Televangelism is, thus, able to play an impact in the spread of religion. The fact that television is regarded to as a gathering place is a major strength. A market place, for example, is a place where people sell all kinds of goods to people of all kinds. A television can be considered to be some sort of a market place where all kinds of people meet and exchange products, money, ideas and information. Television as a gathering place theory centers on television being an environment in which televangelism can rely on in spreading religion to all kinds of people from around the world. Television is the center of information (Lotz 4). Limitations and downfalls of the Framework The theory, television as a gathering place, has its own limitations and downfalls when discussing televangelism and its impact in the world. The theory places television at the centre of all means of communication (Lotz 3). There are, however, other means of communication e.g. radio which are widely used. There are more spiritual radio channels compared to religious television networks. When using the theory, one may not be able to place whether televangelism plays more impact in religious matters compared to other means of communication such as radio. This is a limitation when one tries to use the theory in explaining the impact media plays in spreading religion in the world. Televangelism has to rely on television, which is considered as a place of gathering, when spreading religion across the world. This is quite expensive since one has to pay in order to air their show (Clarke 619). The theory, thus, faces this as a limitation which leads to a negative impact in the spread of religion. There are certain things which may not be included in the use of the theory due to its limitations. One cannot include the impact that other means of communication play in spreading religion across the world. The theory places television as the most popular means of communication. It does not take into consideration other means of communication. Statistics also do not include the number of people who own television sets since it is assumed that one does not have to own a television in order to watch programs. Works Cited Clarke, Peter. Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. Lee, Peter. Global and New Religious Movements. London: Macmillan Publishers, 2012. Print. Lotz, Amanda. The Television will be Revolutionized. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print. Read More