Bayo Oloyede, Babatunde O. Oni, Adefemi Oluwole V. Religion and media in a plural society… RELIGION AND MEDIA IN A PLURAL SOCIETY: THE NIGERIAN EXPERIENCE Bayo I. Oloyede Babatunde O. Oni Adefemi V. Oluwole Redeemer’s University Department of Mass Communication P.M.B. 230, Ede Osun State, Nigeria Religion and media are two vital and indispensable institutions in society. <...> This paper attempts a critical exploration of the relationship between religion and media in plural societies, with concrete illustrations from the Nigerian experience. <...> This is particularly the case in Nigeria, a country with one of the most complex ethnic and religious configurations, where ethnic and religious boundaries delicately overlap. <...> Otherwise, the media can become a liability rather than an asset in the management of religious pluralism. <...> The paper concludes with recommendations on how to reposition the media for the promotion and consolidation of religious tolerance and harmony in plural societies. <...> In addressing its theme, it provides some conceptual definitions of religion, media and plural society, examines the (ideal) relationship between religion and media in plural societies and how the relationship has played out in Nigeria. <...> Perhaps because of its ubiquity and pervasiveness, religion has very many definitions and interpretations “but not one that can be said to be the most accurate” (www.allaboutreligion.org). <...> Definitions of religion, it has been observed, tend to suffer from one or two problems. “They are either too narrow and exclude many belief systems which most agree are religions, or they are too vague or ambiguous, suggesting that just about anything and everything is a religion” (Cline, 2010). <...> In view of this, Cline has suggested that “a better way to explain the nature of religion is to identify the basic characteristics common to religions.” These characteristics he puts at eight, viz: (i) belief in supernatural beings, (ii) sacred v. profane objects, places and times, (iii) ritual acts focused on sacred objects, places and times, (iv) moral codes with supernatural origins, (v) characteristically religious feelings, (vi) prayer and other forms of communication, (vii) a world view and organisation of one’s life based on the world view, and (viii) a social group bound together by the above seven listed characteristics. <...> Given this scenario, we <...>