“This book explores the influence and contributions, on and off the airwaves, of a number of high-profile, distinctive and sometimes highly controversial personalities from John Reith to Jerry Falwell, to the shaping of religious broadcasting in the USA and the UK until the mid-1990s. Robertson’s study, interweaving the personal with the institutional, enriches our understanding of how and why religious broadcasting took such very different paths in the two countries.” DR. JIM MCDONNELL, Head of Catholic Communications Centre 1990-2002. “Religious broadcasting has received less attention than it deserves in published media history. Ian Robertson’s thoroughly researched book examines its social, economic and religious contexts in Britain and America and highlights the role of the pioneers who made it such a significant part of broadcast output. Essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between Christianity and the media.” HUGH CHIGNELL, Emeritus Professor of Media History, Bournemouth University. “In this impressively comprehensive survey of religious broadcasting, from radio to television, Ian Robertson maps out the contrasts between the UK and US. Charismatic appeal played an important role in each context, but the personalities were different. Robertson’s balanced approach highlights the ways in which religious broadcasting fits the cultural expectations of both settings and the unexpected ways that religious innovators adapted their message to new technologies.” JOHN WIGGER, Professor of Social & Cultural History, University of Missouri and author of PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire. “Over thirty years of presenting SONGS OF PRAISE has made the value of religious broadcasting on radio and television abundantly clear to me. It brings connection, comfort, inspiration, empathy and intimacy – like a trusted friend that speaks to each of us in our own surroundings. I believe, for all the inspiration and fellowship Christian broadcasting has brought us in the past, its power and significance as reflected in this book is only just being recognised. The best is yet to come!” PAM RHODES, Author, Broadcaster & Songs of Praise Presenter 1987 to Present Day.
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