Addressing the dissonance between faith and media
Conference brings practitioners together
What can be done about the gap between faith groups and journalists? Few dispute that such a gap exists. As Roman Catholic academic and media critic Michael Higgins puts it, journalists "wear their disaffiliation with any religious institution like a badge of honor." And Brian Stiller of Tyndale College and Seminary has alleged that "the Canadian media have regulated faith out of public discourse."
But the blame doesn’t belong to just one party. For some journalists the problem is that faith groups are "yesterday’s critics," who lack "contemporary resonance," as one Toronto newspaper columnist put it.
Certainly the media aren’t totally at fault for the incomplete reporting on religious matters. "Many faith groups do a poor job of relating to journalists," says John Longhurst, author of a media guide for non-profit organizations, including faith groups. "Some see the media as an enemy and want nothing to do with reporters."
Longhurst himself has long worked at cultivating good relationships with people in both the faith and media communities. And now he’s working hard to bring them together. His networking has been the primary impetus behind a significant national "Faith and the Media" conference that is putting an outstanding lineup of both media and faith personnel on the same roster.
Response to the idea has been overwhelmingly positive. Many faith groups have joined a wide variety of mainstream media outlets (both print and broadcast), along with the Canadian Association of Journalists, to sponsor the gathering. As well, both corporate and private donors have augmented a significant grant from the Department of Canadian Heritage to make it feasible.
Interest from media mavens is strong. The editors of Maclean’s, The Globe and Mail, The Ottawa Citizen are among the many top level decision-makers who will take part, as will Pamela Wallin, Hana Gartner and opening plenary speaker Peggy Wehmeyer, a fulltime religion and spiritual issues correspondent for ABC News in the United States.
Representatives from faith communities include Brian Stiller, United Church of Canada moderator Bill Phipps, newly-elevated Toronto cardinal, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, and John G. Stackhouse, Jr., currently professor of Religion at the University of Manitoba. Non-Christian faith groups–including Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and others–are also involved. Vision TV is the official broadcaster. The Canadian Church Press has scheduled its annual convention immediately prior to "Faith and the Media" so that its members can easily participate.
"Faith and the Media" meets June 7-9 at the Carleton University School of Journalism in Ottawa. Complete information is available at the conference website <http://www.escape.ca/~jclong> or by phoning 204-667-1419. ChristianWeek founder Harold Jantz and editor Doug Koop are members of the Faith and the Media steering committee.
