Lessons from the Megachurch: Understanding Journalism's Turn to Membership
A number of journalism stakeholders have begun advocating for news organizations to adopt membership models as a means to solving the industry's audience trust and revenue problems. This small but growing group distinguishes "membership" from more traditional subscription models by em...
Published in: | Journal of media and religion |
---|---|
Authors: | ; |
Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group
[2019]
|
In: |
Journal of media and religion
|
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Big church
/ Membership
/ Press
/ Subscription business model
|
IxTheo Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy KDG Free church ZB Sociology |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
Summary: | A number of journalism stakeholders have begun advocating for news organizations to adopt membership models as a means to solving the industry's audience trust and revenue problems. This small but growing group distinguishes "membership" from more traditional subscription models by emphasizing the former's focus on collaborative - rather than transactional - relationships with the audience. In this paper, we argue that this conceptualization of membership, while uncommon in journalism, has been widely embraced within another institution: organized religion. In light of this connection, this study draws on in-depth interviews with megachurch membership directors, membership consultants and members themselves to answer the question: What does this conceptualization of "membership" look like in practice? Despite the obvious differences between news and religious organizations, we argue that understanding the latter's approach to membership is useful for understanding the implications for the news industry and the public, should membership models become increasingly popular. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 1534-8415 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of media and religion
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/15348423.2019.1651576 |