Working Hard for the Money: A Faith-Based Media Literacy Analysis of the Top Television Dramas of 2000-2001

This article analyzes 5 of the highest-rated television dramas from the 2000-2001 season in terms of "faith-based" media literacy. It strives for a more systematic and conceptually sound critique that gets beyond the casual assessments frequently found in the popular press. Synthesizing social science and theological constructs, I present a values-based framework for studying how television creates meaning. Such an approach may be useful to viewers seeking a more substantive and conceptually rich definition of media literacy from a principle-based perspective.