"This investigation attempts to analyze how Christian leaders are portrayed on television by calculating their frequency of appearance, identifying the types of behaviors in which they engage, and establishing the dispositional traits of these characters in two contexts. The findings do not suggest that Christian leaders are presented as pillars of goodness or as cloaked villains. Instead, Christian leaders are infrequently seen, but very often engaged in nonreligious and frequently unlawful activities. While these predominately white, male and Catholic leaders are sincere and humble, they are not particularly loving, compassionate or caring. When contrasted with nonreligious characters, Christian leaders tend not to have personal lives filled with family and friends, and they lack richness in their occupational lives as well. It appears that Christian leaders are little more than a convenient mechanism for moving a story around other more interesting, attractive, and nonreligious characters."

Skill, T., & Robinson, J. D. (1994). The image of Christian leaders in fictional television programs. Sociology of Religion, 55(1), 75-84.

"Contrary to the concern voiced by some critics, the results of this investigation do not suggest that religion is portrayed in a systematically negative light. This is not to suggest that religion is portrayed in a positive light. In the final analysis, the findings of this study indicate that religion is a rather invisible institution on fictional network television. This finding is rather consistent with earlier investigations of religious content in other media (cf. Johns-Heine and Gerth, 1949; Lindsey and Heeren, 1992; Perkins, 1984). However, when presentation of religion and spirituality is compared to a host of other social institutions that regularly appear on television, the message that is symbollically conveyed suggests that religion is not very important because it is rarely a factor in the lives of the people on TV or the society in which they are portrayed.

"The data clearly indicate that the exploration of religion and spirituality in the lives of fictional characters is nearly invisible on network television. The extent to which this fact actually impacts the perceptions and behaviors of the audience is not know. However, we might conclude that television has fictionally "de-legitimized" religious institutions and traditions by symbollically eliminating them from our most pervasive form of popular culture. Over time, the consequences of these actions may actually impact the strength and viability of these institutions as a social force in society."

Skill, T., & Robinson, J. D. (1994). The portrayal of relgion and spirituality on fictional network television. Review of Religious Research, (35), 251-267.

"As Fundamentalist Christians have often claimed a bias in the media, this study probes for both explicit and implicit portrayals, examining the issues used by the media to frame discussions and the overall impression news clips offer. A population content analysis of network television news from 1980 to 2000 gathered from the Vanderbilt archive using search terms Fundamentalist and Christian indicated Fundamentalists are reported in a consistent, mildly negative manner. Politics is often the main focus of newscasts involving Fundamentalists, and conflict has been the most prevalent news value. Although often portrayed as being somewhat intolerant, racist, violent, and prone to impose their views on others, Fundamentalists are also depicted as being somewhat patriotic."

Kerr, P. (2003). The framing of funamentalist Christians: network television news, 1980-2000. Journal of Media and Religion, (2)4, 203-235.