Influencing Public Policy
The Jesmond Trust [associated with Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle] has recently launched a potentially significant ministry, called Clayton Media. It’s a TV production company that hopes to produce documentaries on ethical, social and religious issues with the aim of influencing public policy. At some stage later this year they’ll be streaming television material from a biblical perspective from an internet channel.
The following is an excerpt from their web site
There are 1.7 million UK evangelical Christians, forming 3% of our population.
However we are grossly under-represented in the national media. A reticence by evangelicals to be involved, combined with commissioning editors actively opposed to evangelical content has led to evangelicals becoming a large yet virtually ‘invisible’ people group.
This has:
- Strengthened a secular worldview, making evangelism more difficult.
- Weakened the influence of evangelicals in public policy making.
- Created a spiritual ‘void’ which inevitably is being filled by smaller groups and religions willing and able to utilise the medium.
I think that analysis is fair.
Their long term aims are
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To build a large network of British and international viewers, Christian and non-Christian, regularly watching programmes with Christian content or worldview.
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To influence public policy through the political clout of programmes with high viewing figures that persuasively advocate Christian ethics.
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To provide a training centre for television production and so build a sizeable unit in the NE exporting trained Christians into the secular media.
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To provide media resources for churches and mission organisations encouraging them to be involved in television media.
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To change popular culture in the UK by growing a company large enough to secure commissions from the national channels.
If you’re keen to find out more check out their website here http://www.clayton.tv/
This is a great idea!
But I’d be interested to know what they mean by “commissioning editors actively opposed to evangelical content”. What is a programme with ‘evangelical content’? Commissioning editors are interested in ratings. Some may be motivated by ideology, but I don’t think the majority are. It sounds to me like more Christians blaming the media (again) without real evidence.
Anyway. This idea sounds good.
Comment by Phil Craig — August 6, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
Phil
Three quick responses
1. A programme with ‘evangelical’ content is presumably a programme arguing from a biblical Christian worldview. We need to recover our confidence in the sufficiency of God’s word to be able to tell us what to think and do in every area of life.
2. To be motivated by ratings is an ideology!
3. Let’s not be naive about the hostility that can be shown by the media towards a biblically consistent position on many contentious issues.
perks
Comment by Richard Perkins — August 6, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
Thanks Phil and Perks. You are both saying valid things, and I’m 100% behind the project
There are many commissioning editors all with different bias’, they should never be treated as if they are one group. I’m sure a few have an anti-Christian ideology, but from the ones I’ve met I don’t pick up that kind of vibe. It very easy to feel persecuted if an idea you pitch doesn’t get accepted, most ideas don’t get accepted It is dangerous to presume the rejection is because it is from an “evangelical” slant. It might be that the idea didn’t fit the slot the person is looking for, or there is a program that is similar already around, or it might just be a rubbish idea! It is also worth noting like a lot the population some commissioning editors may never have met a Christian before and hearing a take on the world from such a different perspective can seem very jarring. Lets give them the benefit of the doubt!
Perks is correct that God’s word is sufficient to tell us how to think in every area of our lives, but we shouldn’t presume that being theology orthodoxy equates with good programing. It’s important to note that a program can be theologically correct but be rubbish TV, just as a program can be theologically wrong and be good TV. Using an example from another medium Beethoven was a secular humanist but his music reaches the depths of the soul more deeply than the music of Colin Buchanan, that’s why they don’t play his music on Radio 3 (and hopefully never will)!
I agree that the media strengthens a secular world view and I’m appalled to see people who are plainly not Christians sitting on panel discussion “representing” Christianity. Christians often lament about misrepresentation, it’s great to see some actually doing something abut it, and I’m sure there will be a few sympathetic commissioners.
Perks you are right ratings is an ideology and it’s very different from the “Christian” ideology of Lord Reith.
but we live in a market driven works and it’s hard to escape. Emily Bell wrote a helpful piece on this ratings and ethics in media Guardian January 19, 2004 http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1125902,00.html
A few thoughts…
Comment by John Lumgair — August 6, 2007 @ 9:16 pm