| This study, informed by theories drawn from cultural studies and hermeneutics, examines how media give shape to social movements; specifically, it considers how the Protestant evangelical movement in the United States has been shaped by its flagship publication, Christianity Today (CT). To understand how evangelical leaders have used journalism to advance their message and how journalistic practices have been accommodated to an ideological mission, two eras of CT editorial leadership were compared: from CT's founding in 1956 to 1968 under editor Carl F. H. Henry, and from 1975 to 1999 under publisher Harold Myra.; Definitions of evangelicalism and information about journalistic practices were identified from editorial content, information about CT-endorsed activities, archival records, interviews with staff members and observations of present-day editorial practices.; CT coverage of and internal documents related to the 1960 presidential election of John F. Kennedy were studied to identify the CT's definition of evangelicalism at a defining moment in American religious history. To look for shifts in evangelical ideology, editorials from both eras of CT leadership were studied, using a computerized content analysis.; Documents show CT's original mission was to change American culture through its theological, social and political influence and restore evangelical Protestantism to a place of spiritual impact and cultural significance by promoting a definition of evangelicalism as "an engaged orthodoxy."; Study of the construction of evangelicalism during the 1960 presidential election revealed concerns in CT similar to those found in mainstream and religious publications, but with CT offering more reactionary articles and making more dire predictions of the outcome of a Catholic presidency.; Under Henry, journalistic standards were subordinated to the theological goals of defining evangelicalism and providing direction for cultural engagement. Myra responded to a more complex world of publishing by adjusting business and journalistic practices to keep CT financially viable and to a larger, more multi-faceted evangelical movement than the one Henry sought to consolidate.; Study of CT as a journalistic text through which evangelical ideology has been constructed reveals a dynamic process of accommodation and adaptation as evangelicalism has grown from an oppositional to more mainstream position in American culture. |
