A good priest in the tabloid. Image tendencies and the boundaries of anti-clericalism in the media
A good priest in the tabloid. Image tendencies and the boundaries of anti-clericalism in the media

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents four major positive image tendencies observable in 94 texts concerning priests that were published on the tabloid portal, Fakt24.pl, in the period 2009–2016 (a deceased person, a victim of a villain, an intermediary between God and a man, an exceptional person). The material presented challenges the claim that the portal is systemically anti-clerical (irrespective of the prevalence of negative-sentiment texts regarding priests). Differences between various and opposite depictions of priests show that the manner in which priests are described (and the radicalism of assessments) does not arise (solely) from a specific sentiment of the editorial board or its policy, but from tabloid logics which requires that a character be presented in a clear and unambiguous manner. This means, among others, that a positive or negative assessment of the protagonist is determined by the needs of narration used to tell a story in which a priest has a role to play.

• Details
• Contents