Fundamentalist web journalism: Walking a fine line between religious ultra-Orthodoxy and the new media ethos

Abstract

New media journalism has perturbed traditional reporting not only in mainstream-modern societies but also within religious-cum-insular communities. Focusing on the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community in Israel and in light of web journalists' continuous struggle with leading clergy and an apprehensive public, this study grapples with the question, 'How do ultra-Orthodox web journalists view their work mission as information brokers for an enclave culture?' The study gleaned from 40 in-depth interviews with web journalists and discussions with community web activists. Results uncovered three major schemata that drive their praxis: (1) Communal-Haredi, (2) Western-Democratic and (3) Journalist Ecosystem. Findings suggest a rising archetype of fundamentalist web journalism that rests its professional ethos on writers' practice, rather than on formalized training or communal dictums. Web journalists were found to strongly identify with their community, yet, often unintentionally, also act as a secondary form of authority and harbingers of change.

Public Engagement With Science Among Religious Minorities: Lessons From COVID-19

“…The emergence and popularity of online media and their ubiquity have underscored their benefits for everyday life, entertainment, services, and commerce. Thus, in spite of virulent resistance among Haredi leadership, for almost two decades, the Haredi community in Israel (and the United States) has witnessed a sharp increase in the number of Haredi news websites alongside traditional print newspapers (Cohen, 2012;Golan & Mishol-Shauli, 2018). Today, there is a handful of Haredi news websites (e.g., Kikar Shabbat and B'Hadrei Haredim), which report uncensored information, and one also shows pictures of women.…”

Forming an Affiliation Between Two Culturally Different Academic Institutions of Nursing Studies

“…The use of an unfiltered internet is forbidden by ultra-Orthodox rabbis. Only people who need the internet for purposes of their livelihood are allowed to use a "filtered" version of the internet ( Golan & Mishol-Shauli, 2018 ). Since the nursing students needed the internet for much of their course work, a filtered version of the internet had to be specifically set up for them.…”

Interdenominational Cooperation in Religious New Media Projects: the Case of the Christian Media Center

“…The capillary diffusion of smart technologies has pushed religious communities to regulate and theologically legitimise various forms of coexistence with the digital world (Golan and Stadler 2016;Grieve 2010;Hoover and Clark 2002). On the one hand, bounded communities and conservative leaders still regard digital media as gateways to sinful information and religious transgression (Golan and Mishol-Shauli 2018;Hutchings 2011;Lövheim 2017). On the other hand, new media are today welcomed by many denominations as ways to enhance religious learning, facilitate the expansion of the community and strengthen existing communal bonds (Blondheim and Katz 2016;Campbell 2010;Grieve and Veidlinger 2014).…”