A report was released last week about the use of Christian media in the lives of Protestant laity and clergy. The numbers surprised me:
LAITY:
- 78 percent listen to Christian music.
- 64 percent watch Christian television.
- 64 percent visit Christian websites.
- 64 percent listen to Christian radio.
- 60 percent read Christian non-fiction books.
- 55 percent watch Christian movies.
- 47 percent read Christian fiction books.
- 44 percent read Christian magazines.
CLERGY:
- 94 percent listen to Christian music.
- 92 percent read Christian non-fiction books.
- 87 percent read Christian magazines.
- 84 percent listen to Christian radio.
- 83 percent visit Christian websites.
- 77 percent watch Christian television.
- 76 percent watch Christian movies.
- 53 percent read Christian fiction books.
That’s much higher than I would of guessed.
Although the significant finding is that the prominence of Christian media – especially in the life of laypeople – is not all that prominent:
Yet for each type of media, the average proportion dedicated to Christian options is less than half –- usually much less than half. The proportion of media use that is specifically Christian ranged from a high of 42 percent for music (meaning on average, 42 percent of all music Protestant churchgoers listen to is Christian) to a low of 17 percent for movies.
Do you see all this as good news or bad news?
