Media technology in 20th century Mormonism
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The Church's extensive use of electronic mass media in the 20th Century was documented by Shirley Pack Baker, associate professor in the Communications Department at BYU, in her Church History Symposium presentation Feb. 26.
In doing so, she highlighted landmark events occurring mainly in the administrations of four past Church presidents: Heber J. Grant during the radio era, David O. McKay during the mass media era of television and film, Spencer W. Kimball during the satellite era and Gordon B. Hinckley during the Internet era.
"We cannot ignore the observation that the four Church presidents who held office for the longest tenures were positioned at precise periods in media history and development to make use of these new technologies for Church purposes," she remarked.
Sister Baker cited scholars who have attributed the success of organized religions in part to their ability to adopt and make use of emerging media.
"LDS Church leadership must have anticipated that there would be positive effects from media use, or they would not have invested so much time and treasure into them," she said.
"Clearly, the LDS Church was successful in terms of adopting media in the 20th Century, and it was also successful in terms of growth in membership. I have juxtaposed these issues in this presentation — but are they truly related?"
In response, she said the relationship between Church media use and Church growth has not been systematically studied, so far as she knows. "What can be documented, for example, apart from other contributing factors, about the effect on Church growth and missionary work of the aggressive move into satellite technology in the 1980s? Or of the use of television and film in the 1960s and '70s?"
To approach those questions, comparative studies with other religions would be necessary, she said.
She observed in conclusion that changes in communications are ecological: They affect everything. Ways in which everything changed in the Church as new media technologies were introduced will be a common thread in future studies of 20th century Mormonism, Sister Baker said.
"As for the future, if indeed the past is prologue, we can anticipate that the LDS Church will continue to embrace new media — whatever those media might look like in the coming years," she said.
