It’s no secret that the secular media’s coverage of religious affairs is not what Christans might hope. But the solution is not to bury our heads in the sand and hope it goes away, writes GEOFF ROBSON.
Every media outlet in the world has its own biases. And yes, we admit, this includes Southern Cross. It’s just that we happen to believe our own particular bias is the right one.
Some of those biases are harmless, for example, Golf Digest’s preference for golf instead of soccer. Others can be more pernicious and influential, such as News Ltd’s pro-Super League stance during the battle with the ARL in the 90s.
To anyone who has given the matter even a passing thought, it’s no secret that the secular mass media generally fails to cover Christianity in the way that believers would hope (though of course there are exceptions). This might take the form of sensationalist headlines such as the recent ‘Subtle and sinful? Sydney Anglicans risk split in Lord’s Supper rumpus’. Or it may be the more understated but ultimately bigger issue of the gospel being kept at the extreme fringe of all reporting on the church – when in reality it is (or at least should be) at the very centre of church life.
Whatever form this problem takes, its reality is well documented. But when we analyse the media that surround us – and we live in a media-saturated culture – it’s naïve to expect a completely objective, neutral coverage from anywhere. That doesn’t mean we should stop demanding that our media be truthful. But the fact is, at least on the large scale, there will always be prejudices at work.
The real trick is trying to understand why media outlets operate the way they do, and how Christians should interact with the inevitable bad press. It’s an issue that many high-profile Christians working in the media have pondered.
“We all know well that the media’s bread and butter is conflict. That’s why ‘the Good News’ is not good news,” says Leigh Hatcher, a presenter with Sky News and a journalist of 30 years.
It’s a view shared by many others. Glenn Daniel, Group News Director for the Australian Radio Network in Sydney, says ‘conflict makes great copy’. “The very nature of the Christian faith is in conflict with the world’s view on so many issues, so the potential for conflict and differing opinions is great,” he says.
“Think of the central point of the Christian faith: ‘Christ is the only way to salvation’. That’s automatically opposed to a worldview that says there are lots of different ways to God and whatever you believe is okay.”
Roger Summerill, manager of ABC local radio in NSW, says that while the media has no fixed agenda against Christianity, there is a lack of understanding of what happens inside the church. “They have this idea that Christians always seem to be fighting each other – and a good fight is always a good story. Often the church will come off second-best because of that.”
But while the conflict paradigm explains much of the problem, there are other issues at work. John Sandeman, art director for The Sun-Herald, points out that the nature of Christianity means those outside the faith ‘will never quite get it’.
“The Bible tells us that we come to Jesus and understand the truth about him by the Spirit,” he says. “If coverage of Sydney Anglicans suddenly became perfect, either the media would have been converted or we would have become worldly.”
Sandeman also believes that certain issues within the church, such as women’s ordination and homosexuality, put us at a disadvantage with the culture. It’s easy to forget that we are not part of the mainstream on these issues.
He also says the complexity of the churches is a factor. “If four codes of footy are hard to follow, how about all the denominations?” he says. “The Anglicans are even trickier; some of the states seem to play according to different rules. We probably could not make it harder for the media if we tried.”
As many experts have also pointed out, the typical report on religion is delivered by correspondents with no inside knowledge.
Glenn Daniel says that most reporters have a ‘textbook understanding, not a personal understanding’ of the Christian faith. “This often leads to a situation where journalists receive some information, then based on what they believe about Christianity, make the wrong conclusion,” he says.
But as we look outside ourselves for answers, the truth is that not all negative coverage of Christianity can be blamed on external factors. Leigh Hatcher says that church organisations are often guilty of ‘serving up conflict and confrontation in spades to an expectant and forever grateful media’. “Too much of this is unnecessary and in particular too much of it is political,” he says.
Glenn Daniel agrees, saying that the coverage is often negative because it deserves to be. “As Christians, our behaviour and standards often don’t reflect Christ,” he admits. “We deserve the spotlight of community scrutiny on us. The test is how we handle that.”
As hard as it may be to admit, sometimes the appropriate response to negative media coverage is to focus on ourselves. Shooting the messenger is always much easier, and is so often justified when it comes to the media. But this is not always the case.
In fact nearly all the experts contacted by Southern Cross believe that the first solution to poor media coverage is for every Christian to examine their own motives and actions. This can even be a great spur for us to demonstrate patience and love to our neighbours, and live in a way that commends the gospel.
“I think that a good, hard, honest look at ourselves is perhaps what is most required,” Leigh Hatcher says. “Are we the ‘light to the Gentiles’? Are we truly ambassadors for Christ, representing love, grace and graciousness in our community?”
John Sandeman believes humility is a vital starting point. “When Christians have made mistakes, we should admit it,” he says. “We should not try to be too clever and hide behind denominational barriers.
“After all, church failures, like all human failures, are what the Bible leads us to expect.”
So is that the final answer? Fix ourselves, and the problem will just disappear? Well, not quite. It may be a starting point, but there is still much that we can do to interact with the media.
One step is to consider how even negative or misleading stories can provide a chance to discuss spiritual matters with our neighbours. In a world where we so often struggle to initiate conversations on spiritual matters, negative press can open doors that otherwise remain closed.
Barney Zwartz, religious affairs writer for The Age and a committed Christian, says that if believers don’t interact with the media, ‘they simply hand the playing field to the secularists’.
“Christians should try to explain to non-Christians the real issues around the church, and where the media coverage is unfair or inadequate,” he says. “Just say, ‘I don’t think that story had it quite right, and here’s why … this is what was missing, or this is the context’.”
Bishop Robert Forsyth, himself a frequent participant in media coverage of the Diocese, believes that a combination of honesty and the willingness to share personal testimony is the best way forward. “Share your positive experience and tell people why you persevere in a church that has so many issues,” he says. “For example, don’t talk about lay administration directly, but talk about the value of the sacrament and how it relates to Christ’s death on our behalf. That could be a very personal moment.”
It’s true that most Christians are often wrongly characterised, or made to feel irrelevant or marginalised, by the mass media. But perhaps the surest sign of irrelevance would be the absence of any coverage at all.
If we are to have any impact on our society through the media, it seems the answer is not to bury our collective head in the sand. While our leaders work to share the Christian message via the press, the rest of us must be prepared to engage the issues and play our part in the discussion. It may be difficult and painful, but it will certainly be worth the effort.
