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The Religion Beat Gets Beat: the Rise and Fall of Stand-Alone Religion Sections in Southern Newspapers, 1983-2015

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The Religion Beat Gets Beat: the Rise and Fall of Stand-Alone Religion Sections in Southern Newspapers, 1983-2015 The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 2021 The Religion Beat Gets Beat: The Rise and Fall of Stand-alone Religion Sections in Southern Newspapers, 1983-2015 Tara Yvette Wren Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Wren, Tara Yvette, "The Religion Beat Gets Beat: The Rise and Fall of Stand-alone Religion Sections in Southern Newspapers, 1983-2015" (2021). Dissertations. 1885. https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1885 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RELIGION BEAT GETS BEAT: THE RISE AND FALL OF STAND-ALONE RELIGION SECTIONS IN SOUTHERN NEWSPAPERS, 1983-2015 by Tara Yvette Wren A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Communication at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by: Dr. Vanessa Murphree, Committee Chair Dr. Christopher Campbell Dr. David Davies Dr. Cheryl Jenkins Dr. Fei Xue May 2021 COPYRIGHT BY Tara Yvette Wren 2021 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT This paper explores the religious news coverage of five southern newspapers in Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas. The newspapers researched in this study are among those that published a stand-alone religion section. Newspapers surveyed include – The Clarion-Ledger (Mississippi), The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), The Dallas Morning News (Texas), The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Georgia), and The Tennessean (Tennessee). The period researched focused on stand- alone religion sections published from the papers mentioned above between 1983 and 2015. This timeframe was when newspapers across the country turned a keener focus toward religion coverage. This study investigates religious perspectives, practices, beliefs, and values of that era. It is also essential because it provides a broad view of how southern newspapers’ focus on religion impacted communities. Each paper was analyzed using different methodologies based on the data availability and accesses and persons available for interviews. This study examines the evolution of each paper’s religion reporting methods, themes, and graphic layouts of the stand-alone sections. This study highlights the historical impact of researched publications and what events influenced their development. It also takes a unique perspective in assessing how each paper used its religion section to harmonize with the public's sentiments at the time. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks be to God for strength, favor, and the ability to conquer this most prestigious task. He alone has been my ultimate guide and power source. I have a deep appreciation for my dissertation committee: Dr. Christopher Campbell, Dr. David Davies, Dr. Cheryl Jenkins, and Dr. Fei Xue gave their time and academic guidance. To Dr. Vanessa Murphree, who has been the perfect committee chair, I offer extreme gratitude. Her depth of knowledge, keen interest in my work, timely advice, meticulous scrutiny, and most of all, patience helped me bring my thinking to a higher level and this successful end. Thanks to Mr. Thomas Lambert who provided a keen eye to each word. Also, this dissertation would not have the depth it does had it not been for the meaningful conversations with news industry professionals. To each of them, who were willing to provide information and context, I am incredibly thankful. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to the two women in my life who have always supported me in all my endeavors – my mother, Dr. Mangle L. Shanks, and grandmother, Ms. Dora Lee Shanks Wren. They transferred their intelligence, smarts, wit, ability to persevere, and resilience on to me, and I am most appreciative. I am tremendously grateful to my 83-year-old grandmother, Dora Lee Shanks Wren, who lit the flame for this journey. I follow my mother's footsteps, Dr. Mangle L. Shanks, a tremendous support and great inspiration. To my sons, Alexander and Malcolm Hopkins, my most consistent cheerleaders, thank you for your patience during those times I seemed far away. My sister, Tonya Wren McGriggs, has been a continuous motivation. To Jasmine Harvey, a sweet young lady who constantly held me to a higher standard during this process. You gave me energy. To my most trusted friend, Pastor Cedric Grizzell, your unwavering support, shared resources, and inspirational messages often lifted me. I cannot leave out Phoenix, my loyal furry grand-doggy. When everyone else was sleeping, she always stuck with me during the all-nighters. My dissertation's successful completion would not have been possible without the hands-on support of the people and pouch listed here and other family, friends, and co-workers who cheered me on. The mere encouraging words were often enough to push me a step closer to a successful end. My sincerest thanks to all. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ............................................................................................ xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... xiii CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Overview of Newspapers ............................................................................................ 3 Background ................................................................................................................. 5 The Bible Belt ............................................................................................................. 8 THESIS STATEMENT .................................................................................................. 8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................ 9 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 9 RESEARCH METHODS PER NEWSPAPER ............................................................ 10 The Clarion-Ledger Newspaper ................................................................................ 10 The Dallas Morning News ........................................................................................ 11 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution .............................................................................. 11 The Charlotte Observer ............................................................................................. 12 v The Tennessean ......................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 14 Advocacy for Religion News Coverage ................................................................... 18 The Dallas Morning News ........................................................................................ 19 Religion Beat Obstacles ............................................................................................ 20 More Focused Religion Coverage ............................................................................ 22 No Revenue, No Religion ......................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER III – THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS .................................................. 25 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 25 History of the Paper .................................................................................................. 25 Origins of the Religious Column .............................................................................. 26 Changes over Time ................................................................................................... 31 Community Reflection .............................................................................................. 35 Publication Imagery .................................................................................................. 36 May 7, 2005, The Dallas Morning News. ................................................................. 38 MAJOR THEMES .................................................................................................... 39 Non-Denominational Values .................................................................................... 39 Art, Music & Literature ............................................................................................ 41 Religious Tolerance .................................................................................................. 42 vi Restoration of Faith................................................................................................... 44 Religion & Politics
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