Original scientific paper
A Presentation of the Religious Content on the Most Visited Croatian Internet Portals
Nikolina Hazdovac Bajić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6469-8290
; The Ivo Pilar Institute for Social Sciences, District Center Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Abstract
The complex interplay between religion and the media is the subject of interest of many theorists. Thus, by focusing on the topic of religion in the media (in terms of appearance and presentation of institutional religion in the media), we have tried to gain insight into the way in which religion is presented on the three most visited Croatian Internet portals (24sata.hr, Index.hr and Net.hr, according to the GemiusAudience data for Croatia). Studies have shown that Croatian citizens place most of their confidence in the information available on the Internet. Also, 63% of Croatian citizens above the age of 15 availed themselves of the Internet in 2011 according to GfK research. It is clear therefore that Croatian Internet portals are an important factor in shaping the public sphere as well as Croatian social reality. On the other hand, due to the pressure for increased usage, ultimately resulting in increased profits, the fact remains that Internet portals have resorted to the tabloidization of content, negativism and reporting of banal and shocking news. The purpose of this article was to determine the way in which religious content is presented on the three most visited Croatian Internet portals. The aim was to analyze religious articles published on the front page of these portals with regard to the period between November 20 to December 20, 2012, and in so doing to try to determine in how far the tabloid approach to journalism applies to religious content, that is, to determine the main features of articles with religious themes.
Keywords
Internet portals; media; religion; tabloidization; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
113701
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2013.
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