Scholar traces roots of Christian media

Decades before evangelical leader Pat Robertson began broadcasting his gospel to legions of avid fans, the "Cold War Christian Right" was spreading its message through the radio waves, media scholar Heather Hendershot said in a lecture in Betts Auditorium yesterday.

Hendershot, a media studies professor at Queens College in New York and Anschutz Distinguished Fellow at Princeton, cited the example of the Rev. Billy James Hargis, a figurehead of the Christian right from the 1950s to 1970s who connected the ideals of Cold War Christian activists to those of the new Christian right.

She also discussed the creation of a modern Christian popular culture, tracing its origins in the media during the 20th century. She focused on the radio as the primary means of circulating the Christian message.

Hargis, in particular, used "skillful yet unscrupulous" methods to spread his message and to fundraise, she said. She described how he would send letters — addressed to "Dear Christian Crusader" — to his followers to rally their support.

Hendershot, who is writing a book on right-wing broadcasting during the Cold War, next discussed Hargis' campaign against sex education, highlighting his successful lobbying efforts to have the controversial program removed from the California Public School System.

Additionally, Hendershot showed videos of Hargis in action, which she said demonstrated how contemporary conservative figureheads — such as Fox News host Bill O'Reilly — use some of Hargis' innovative methods to gain followers and raise money.

Hendershot elicited laughs from the audience when she referred to Hargis' "loud and fat" demeanor as a quality that drew people to his cause.

She added that she was inspired to draw connections between media and religion while analyzing children's television. During that research project, she said, she discovered that there was a specialized conservative Christian media industry for young people, which includes teen magazines, cartoons and other forms of media.

Instead of trying to fix mainstream culture, Hendershot said, conservative Christians took matters into their own hands and produced an alternative popular culture based on religious themes.

History professor Hendrick Hartog, who directs the American studies program, introduced Hendershot by noting some of her many accomplishments, including her editorship of the "Cinema Journal."

Hartog mentioned Hendershot's love for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and her role as an author. She wrote "Saturday Morning Censors: Television Regulation before the V-Chip" in 1998 and "Shaking the World for Jesus: Media and Conservative Evangelical Culture" in 2004.

Hartog also praised Hendershot for her ability to be a "multi-talented student of many media, including film, television and radio."

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Hendershot, the Anschutz Fellow for fall 2007, teaches a seminar called AMS 314: Children's Television: History, Politics, Economics, a class that Hartog said had an extremely long waiting list.

The Program in American studies chooses a person each semester to receive the Anschutz Distinguished Fellowship, which was created through an endowment from the Anschutz family. The fellow must teach a course in the American studies program and deliver a public lecture at the University.