Creating, Sustaining, or Dispelling Misconceptions: A Discourse Analysis of Mainstream Print Media's Coverage of Obama's Religious Identity

26 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2012

See all articles by Laura Meadows

Laura Meadows

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Date Written: May 10, 2011

Abstract

This study considered the role the mainstream print media has played in creating, sustaining, or dispelling the confusion among some Americans regarding President Barack Obama’s religious identity. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis of coverage of Obama’s religious identity, the study noted several distinct themes, including current faith practices, connections to history, blame game, otherness, politicization, and Muslim connections. A number of articles failed to capture the social, political, and historical contexts of the issue. This failure resulted in coverage that implicitly accepted the questions’ legitimacy surrounding the President’s religion and delegitimized his beliefs. Other coverage legitimated the confusion over his religious identity by focusing on Obama’s “nontraditional” path to Christianity. Such coverage accentuated Obama’s otherness, and created the potential for distrust and doubt. The study concluded that the coverage Obama received from the mainstream print media played an important but inconsistent role in dispelling the confusion over his religious identity.

Suggested Citation

Meadows, Laura, Creating, Sustaining, or Dispelling Misconceptions: A Discourse Analysis of Mainstream Print Media's Coverage of Obama's Religious Identity (May 10, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2183347 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2183347

Laura Meadows (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

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