Religion and the Media Video Player
Many academics resist using social media in their scholarship for fear it could tarnish their reputation and academic integrity. Mark Juergensmeyer, professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, urges them to transform their traditionally one-way work into a two-way dialogue through engaging in conversation on digital forums, television, and radio. Social media, he added, should be used as a platform to teach and ignite public conversations that reach even those at the farthest edges of the globe.
"We are teachers after all, and our public is our classroom," Juergensmeyer said.
Through writing, public lectures, speeches, and television or radio appearances, experts can develop a public voice and inform lay audiences about how religion intersects with society, culture, politics, and more, and can better explain common misunderstandings surrounding faith.
On advancing religious understanding through embracing emerging technologies, R. Marie Griffith, director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, said: "The media is crucial. We have to be willing to work with the media if we want our message to get out."