Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why A Black Baptist Community Uses Christian Media: An Ethnographic Treatment Of A Working-Class Community Where Christian Media Use Is Shaped By Sacred Tenets, Social Influences And Personal Factors, Eric K. Jones

Communications Faculty Scholarship

As aspiring Christians, this African American Baptist community faces intense societal pressures. These pressures work in conjunction with the following things to help shape their continued struggle to live righteous lives - their convictions in the Baptist faith, their church and work environments and their personal and familial experiences. This ethnographic study examines how they socially construct rituals of Christian media use that help them do the following things; negotiate feelings of guilt and moral conflict, prepare for life’s difficult challenges, and form meaningful social bonds with others. This study extends the literature on qualitative research conducted within the uses …