Baptist Press and the Baptist Faith and Message: framing women within denominational contexts

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Southern Baptists, the largest evangelical group in the United States, has its own media world, including publishing houses, newspapers and even its own wire service. This large world of denominational media is vastly understudied. This study examined frames over a six-year period and examined whether the largest Southern Baptist news outlet, Baptist Press, adhered to the 2000 amended version of the Baptist Faith and Message. While the Baptist Faith and Message is not a creed, this document represents generally accepted beliefs. This document states that a wife should "submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband," and that "while both men and women are gifted for service in the church, office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture." In other words, women are restricted in their roles for ministry. A content analysis was used for verification of content, and then qualitative methods of analysis were applied to the discussion of results. Collected data confirmed that Baptist Press does, in fact, frame its stories in a direct or indirect way that adheres to the beliefs outlined in the Baptist Faith and Message. Data also revealed that men were used as sources more often, especially when the story needed to have an authoritative voice. However, women were most likely to be used for human interest frames or for more emotional content.