A Plain Circle: Imagining Amish and Mennonite Community Through the National
A Plain Circle: Imagining Amish and Mennonite Community Through the National Edition of The Budget A thesis presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts M. Clay Carey June 2012 © 2012 M. Clay Carey. All Rights Reserved. This thesis titled A Plain Circle: Imagining Amish and Mennonite Community Through the National Edition of The Budget by M. CLAY CAREY has been approved for the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism and the Scripps College of Communication by Bill Reader Associate Professor of Journalism Scott Titsworth Interim Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT CAREY, M. CLAY, M.S., June 2012, Journalism A Plain Circle: Imagining Amish and Mennonite Community Through the National Edition of The Budget) Director of Thesis: Bill Reader This thesis describes the ways in which one community newspaper attempts to connect a broad, diverse population bound by a common ideal, in this case religious faith. The subject of the research is the national edition of The Budget , a weekly newspaper mailed to Amish and Mennonite readers all over the world. Writers for the national edition are largely free to write about whatever they like. They pass along local information about the weather, church visits, people who have fallen ill, marriages, and other aspects of community life. This qualitative study of The Budget explores the portrayals of Anabaptist life in those dispatches and how those portrayals unite readers. Using textual analysis, it explores common themes, ideals, and values expressed in letters, and how those expressions help create an “imagined community” among Budget readers.
[Show full text]