loading no_name_lo...

There's no denying the increasing globalization of media in the 21st century. CNN is broadcast to your hotel room whether in Thailand, Luxembourg, or New York City. Meanwhile, Internet technologies give you simultaneous access to other perspectives such as Al-Jazeera or the BBC.

As for entertainment and arts media, American popular culture continues to encroach more and more upon the cultures  of the world, even as it captivates their hearts and minds. MTV is broadcast in Southeast Asia, where even the most modest of shantys has satellite TV. "Hip hop" is a worldwide phenomenon, with b-boys practicing steps in subways from Barcelona to Tokyo. American movie studios expect their biggest action blockbusters to earn half their revenue in foreign markets.

But the exchange is not one-way. Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, is also home to hundreds of peoples and cultures from all over the world. She boasts the second-largest populations of Koreans, Thais, Filipinos, Armenians, and any number of Latino peoples outside of their respective countries. And the influence of these cultures on American media, though still minimal and often cliched or "Americanized," is growing. In fact, taken another way, what is American culture except a conglomeration of the influences of a steady stream of immigrants over the last 300-400 years?

Those who profess Jesus as Lord have often responded to the ever-increasing complexity in the world brought on by globalization with a sort of isolationism, taking believers out of the world. We have, perhaps, misconstrued Jesus' call to be holy and set-apart to mean we should stop interacting with non-believers completely. (That we think at all about the world in terms of those who do and do not believe -- instead of seeing our common need for God's mercy -- belies how much we let our impulse to categorize in exclusive terms define our lives.)

But isolation is not an option, nor, we believe, is it the desire of God. Jesus prayed that we would not be taken out of the world in John 17, but that we would be sent into the world. With a deeper commitment to be transformative agents immersed in the culture around us, we can be salt and light in fallen places and redeem powers and structures intended for the good of humankind.

Instead of continuing to allow the church to be ghettoized as a Christian sub-culture, let's engage the world around us and be cultural innovators and forebears, infusing the wonder of the gospel into the life of the everyday.

Competing Understandings of Globalization and Culture

Not everyone is in agreement about what globalization is doing to culture, and therefore some of our analysis is contingent on which perspective one takes. We have tried as much as possible to address multiple viewpoints in our wiki. A brief description of three perspectives follows.

1. Clash of Civilizations:
This view of globalization and culture foresees a constant battle among the dominant civilizations of an age. In the current age, a proponent of this view would see a conflict between the West (America and Europe) and the Islamic world. There might also be conflict with "Sino-Asian" civilization (China, Korea, Japan, and SIngapore) and the West.

In general, a clash of civilizations view of globalization and culture sees different cultures permanently at odds with each other, fighting for supremacy or survival over and against competing cultures.

2. Homogenization:
The homogenization school of thought sees globalization being an agent that erases differences among cultures so that the world will end up with one culture across all continents, with any differences being superficial. Homogenists particular see Western or American culture being exported by the engines of capitalism to every corner of the earth, forcing local cultures to extinction and replacing them with global popular media culture and Western-style consumerism.

3. Hybridization:
Hybridization is a theory that sees inter-cultural encounters being marketplaces where each culture asserts itself and makes a contribution to the global cultural dialogue. In these cultural intersections, new "hybrid" cultures are formed alongside prior existing ones. Hybridists don't see globalization bringing the demise of cultural diversity, but sees rather the potential for greater cultural intermixing and innovation.

1. Understanding the Role of Global Media in World Evangelization

Should global media be used as an agent of communicating the Gospel, given its inherent bias against individuals and the uniqueness of cultures? We cringe to think about the traditional mainstream Christian broadcasts that go out and represent the kingdom. Programs like the ones on TBN, which seem to come out of the deep South and are very conversative and very unimaginative are more of what we don't really need out in the world.

2. Reversing the Ghettoization of Christians as a Bizarre Sub-Culture

We as the church have made ourselves culturally irrelevant to the rest of the world except as a consumer market segment. Christ-followers need to increase their excellence as culture creators, watchers and interpreters. The church's engagement with media is most effective through individuals, who through their authority as cutting-edge, creative and thoughtful media generators, would infuse gospel and kingdom values into their work. We also need those who can interpret media and culture correctly to feel the heartbeat of the people of that culture, and also to read the media for symbols that can be attributed meanings that come from the culture of Christ.

3. Limiting Corporate Dominance of Media Channels

The current media landscape is oppressively dominated by a handful of large media corporations whose reach and influence is global. This situation crowds out smaller players who might offer different perspectives on news, or encourage creative alternative entertainment and art media that doesn't fir the media giants' risk threshhold. It also threatens journalistic integrity, as corporate self-interest or bias leads to spin doctoring and subtle propagandism (e.g., FOX News or Al Jazeera).

4. Preserving Culture Against the Westernizing Effects of Mass Media?

There is also the question of how media affects culture, and whether mass media is having a detrimental (that is, obliterating) effect on diverse local cultures. Academically, it's been defined as "Media Ecology," which is concerned with "the interactions of communications media, technology, technique, and processes, with human feeling, thought, value, and behavior." If media has a strong effect on people's feelings, thoughts and values, then the export of Western/American media to the rest of the world would be expected to evoke similar feelings, thoughts and values in all areas, and that that would erode each area's cultural distinctiveness.

Not everyone sees things this way. Some feel that technology and mass media empower non-Western cultures to have a strong influence on dominant cultures like those of the West. Again, this depends greatly on one's outlook on globalization and culture.

5. Upholding Standards of Truth and Integrity in Journalism and News Reporting

The New York Times, the old bastion of objectivity in the news world, in the last few years had their integrity called into question. This is one indication of a larger trend toward sensationalism and self-interest affecting the news. Even if, as Patrick Champagne contends in Weight of the World (Bourdieu 1999: 46-59), the news reporting world has gotten to a point where objectivity is nearly impossible by nature of the industry, some basic commitment to honesty and fairness needs to be re-established in our opinion.

Often there are "practices" or "structures" that give rise to the social problems or challenges we've described above. Here are some of them.

1. The Bottom Line Drives Corporate Activity

The profit motive corporation naturally leads to making journalistic compromises in order to sensationalize news to appeal to readers' desire for the sensational. That same motive drives art/entertainment corporations to eschew any concern for cultural preservation in favor of ever-increasing market penetration. The desire to reach as wide a world market as possible naturally favors movies and music that appeal to the lowest common denominator, without regard for subtlety or local cultural relevance. Sex and violence become the universal language for "entertainment."

2. Inertia and Apathy Are Not Considered Moral Vices

If Jesus followers as consumers consistently signal to the world that entertainment is what's most important to them, then corporations will continue to cater to those values. Although there are certain structures in place that present a limited number of options for "cultural consumption" to people, Jesus followers must actively strive to make counter-cultural choices. It is in these acts of consumer rebellion that we can be agents of transformation.

We should demand from media providers more in-depth news that tells the truth from a number of perspectives.

3. Resources and Influence are Increasingly Concentrated in Fewer, Larger Entities

Power begets power, and opportunities to expand influence and control are only available to those with the financial, intellectual, and political means to do so. (Here we also hope to include a map of the reach/influence of global media corporations, their entities / holdings, and a history of their expansion).

1. Jesus Followers should delight in local cultures and help to preserve them.

Given the our awareness of the hypothesis that local cultures are not necessarily in need of "preservation," and acknowledging that an impulse to save cultures can be paternalistic, at a basic level we can still agree that cultures can glorify God in a unique way, and it is in our interest to increase God's glory on earth by helping to preserve them. Revelation 7:9 tells us that people from every tribe, language, nation and people will be present at the throne of the lamg to glorify him in their own unique way.

Jesus did not deny or avoid the culture he came into, nor did he seek to destroy the cultures of those not like him.  He sought kingdom transformation from the inside-out. 

At the most basic level, part of our task is to have an appreciation for other cultures and unique artistic expressions within ourselves, and to instill these values in our children, informally through relationship and formally through education.

At a broader level, Jesus followers ought to think about the effects of their consumer choices -- what films, music or activities (dance, theater, musicals) they are signalling as important or valuable by the way they spend their money.

American Jesus followers might also try to use their political leverage to signal to the government that cultural preservation is important, whether in a general sense or in specific situations that arise.

We also need to be aware of the fact that some aspects of certain cultures do not glorify God, for example, female circumcision or "honor-killings" in Arab cultures. In redeeming cultures, the Biblical value of respect for women must be applied.

2. Jesus followers are called to seek justice for the oppressed.

Jesus made a habit of caring and providing for the "least of these," as described in his parable about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25, and expressed through his multiple healings of the poor and needy. The questions pertaining to Global Media that I believe this Jesus-practice forces us to ask are: "How does Global Media oppress those in need?" "How might it liberate them provide for them?"

Giving equal voice to neglected or marginalized segments of society by helping to make media outlets available to them is part of seeking justice for the oppressed and the voiceless. By helping the voiceless to be heard, we give them greater visibility on the world stage and make their causes known to those who might act to help them. Raising awareness should also sear the consciences of those who might want to ignore such situations, and frustrate the work of agents of that oppression.

3. Jesus followers are called to be in the world but not of the world.

There is a theme throughout the Gospels, but particularity Luke, of Jesus sharing table-fellowship (interacting intimately) with sinners and outcasts of the society. A good example of this is in the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19. The main question I believe this Jesus-practice raises for us within the context of Global Media and Christian involvement is: "Is isolationism or combatant separatism really the best response for Jesus-followers?"

A good deal of pop culture can be seen as having a morally corruptive effect on the church and on other cultures. We need to acknowledge this reality and respond to it. One way is to promote media literacy, a movement to educate people on how to properly dissect mass media messages and not take them as simple truth. Media literacy might need to be complemented with outright censorship or control in certain cases, although Jesus followers will likely have a range of differing opinions on the scope and / or efficacy of censorship.

4. Jesus followers are called to go into the world and be agents of redemption and transformation.

Jesus also taught about being "salt and light" in the world (see Matthew 5:13-14), and that forces Jesus followers to consider such questions as: "If Jesus-followers boycott participation in the realms of media, how canwe be a positive presence of 'salt and light'?"

Jesus followers should be at the forefront of producing and defining culture and art in ways that will meet the world's deepest hunger for beauty and God. Jesus followers ought to foster creativity in believers and non-believers, because creativity is part of the image of God that only humankind possesses. Jesus followers ought to respond to the world's creative expressions in order to understand the heart of those we are trying to reach.

5. Jesus Followers are called to make the most of their "talents."

Five weeks of research have shown us there is incredible power in global media. Whether for good or bad, global media creators, providers and infrastructures have the power to transform cultural frameworks. In John Storey's understanding of the interaction between production and consumption, people aren't locked in to the choices they're presented, but they are definitely affected by them. Making "better" media choices available to people (those that are infused with the gospel or the love of Jesus) can have a redeeming influence on culture as a whole.

The social phenomenon of flash mobbing arose in the convergence of instant messaging, mobile sms, and internet availability. There was no single inventor or purveyor of the flash mob; rather, it evolved out of a shared social space and a shared set of commodities or tools for creating culture. In the same way, adding more of that which has the essence of Christ can influence the development of culture toward Christ.

A popular stewardship use of media is of course the Internet (as we are doing in this class). Two examples of group using internet media to try to redeem culture are the website  Crimes of War, and The InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF).

5

What We Can Do

1. Encourage Media Literacy in the Church and Beyond

One response to issues in media is to promote media literacy. The task of media literacy is essentially to train people how to read media messages with a critical eye, analyzing the message, its presentation, the emotions being appealed to, and the overall intended effect. Those who increase their media literacy are no longer passive media consumers that simply take what they see or read as truth, but rather those who can deconstruct a message into its constituent parts.

2. Help Make Media Connectedness and Alternative Media Channels Available to the Marginalized

Entire populations of people in the non-affluent parts of the world have no access to media, let alone alternative news sources or channels for expression. Part of what it might mean for Christians to bring justice to the oppressed might be to empower them by making the Internet available to them, teaching them how to publish blogs and wikis and make podcasts so that they can make their voice heard in a world dominated by affluent Western nations.

The image above was auto-generated at this page and shows the news coverage of countries on any given day. Dark red denotes heavy coverage and dark blue denotes little or no coverage.

3. Become Cultural Innovators and Persons of Influence

Jesus followers should seek to secure positions at the forefront of cutting edge media and cultural institutions, and churches should be supportive of their efforts. All the more, our fellowships ought to help our artists/creatives to survive "out in the world." Jesus followers should deepen their appreciation for arts and culture, both Western and non-Western.

4. Use the Internet as an Equalizer

One thing that can be done to ensure everyone has a voice in a media industry that seems to find more power and media channels in the hands of fewer and fewer men, is to increase access to and use of the Internet, which can be an equalizer, giving voice to anyone who wants one (provided they have the skills and modest resources required to be online). As a case in point, this project shows that kids living in slums in India can teach themselves how to use the Internet.

Among those who found a voice on the Internet were those who wanted to talk about global issues, just like us, which is probably a good thing. We also found those prophesying the last days, magazine publishers reinforcing their brands and channels, and Christian publishers taking their fair shake at the media game, such as Sojourners and Christianity Today.

5. Respond to the News that is Already Available

We can cry all we want about how the news is skewed or dumbed down, but if we don't respond to the crises and situations that the news does bring to our attention -- Sudan, North Korea, child sex trafficking -- then any more objective or in-depth reporting won't ultimately do any good. We need to respond to the issues starting today.

6. Discover NGOs and Other Organizations Already Tracking Developments in the Media World

There are thousands of international NGOs in existence; one or more are bound to be working with or addressing media concerns.

6

What Others Are Already Doing

1. Pauline Center For Media Studies.

Started by the Order of the Daughters of St. Paul, a nunnery in Boston. They have articles about media, including one on media literacy.

2. Kevin Max Smith.

A unique and sometimes bizarre voice in the world of Christians who are musicians.

3. Pedro the Lion.

Another dude who is a Christian but not a Christian music artist, David Bazan's one-man band tries to deal with the difficult issues in life in a way that's not very sugar-coated.

4. Hollywood Jesus.

I admit I haven't read through enough of their reviews to decide whether I like their site or not, and that mostly because their site name and design don't make it past my (snobbish) geeky Christian sub-culture radar, but I'm sure they're putting in a good effort. Evaluating current film in Christian light.

5. Jeremy Begbie.

Begbie's lecture about redemptive analogy intrinsic to western tonal diatonic music made me smile and gush when I first heard it in 1998. He continues his work in cross-pollinating theology through the arts with his project at the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies.

6. FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting).

FAIR seeks to keep media organizations honest about the news they purvey to an unknowing public.

7. Act One. 

"...is a nonprofit organization that trains people of faith for careers in mainstream film & TV. Stressing artistry, excellence, professionalism, and spirituality, Act One prepares students to be 'salt and light' in writers rooms, on sets, and in studio and network offices.  Our goal is not to produce explicitly 'religious' entertainment, but movies and TV programs that combine mastery of craft with an unusual quality of depth.

7

Resources

The website "Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting" grapples with point #5 in our Social Challenges section.

The "Hole in the Wall" project can inspire a similar effort by believers.

Servant Partners is seeking to transform inner-city culture by living incarnationally in poor urban areas and redeeming from within.

The report of Media and Techonology was sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, which seeks to “serve leaders worldwide by providing a place for theological discussion and development of practical strategies to address the seminal issues facing the church and world today with respect to global missions.” According to this research, using media for the Gospel can be evinced by the real cases of Bible, such as Noah’s Ark and Moses’ staff. Therefore, this document gives us not only clear Biblical backgrounds why today’s church must use global media for evangelism, but also many valuable guidelines, resources, and case studies as follows:

1. Christian media utilizes many forms and approaches.
2. Christian media envisage the New Heaven and the New Earth.
3. Christian media can be prophetic.
4. Christian media can be priestly.
5. Christian media can be kingly.
6. Christian media can be pastoral like shepherds.
7. Christian media can be redemptive, calling people back to God.
8. Christian media can be educational.

Another example is the following writing, Ten Paradigm Shifts toward Community Transformation. This report gives us guidelines how to use global media for transforming cultures as follows:

1. From building walls to building bridges.
2. From measuring attendance to measuring impact.
3. From encouraging the saints to attend the service to equipping the saints for works of service.
4. From “serve us” to service—from inward to outward focus.
5. From duplication of human services and ministries to partnering with existing services and ministries.
6. From fellowship to functional unity.
7. From condemning the city to blessing the city and praying for it.
8. From being a minister in a congregation to being a minister in a parish.
9. From anecdote and speculation to valid information.
10.From teacher to learner.

The World Association for Christian Communication proposes these guidelines on how to communicate with the world through global media according to God's will:

1. Communication from a Christian perspective. For Christian communicators, the material and the spiritual are part of each other. Christ's own communication was an act of self-giving. He 'emptied himself, taking the form of a servant' (Phil 2:7). He ministered to all, but took up the cause of the materially poor, the mentally ill, the outcasts of society, the powerless and oppressed. In the same way, Christian communication should be an act of love which liberates all who take part in it. Consequently, the Gospel, being the Good News for the poor, needs to be constantly reinterpreted from the perspectives of the poor and oppressed.

2. Communication creates community. Genuine communication cannot take place in a climate of division, alienation, isolation and barriers which disturb, prevent or distort social interaction. True communication is facilitated when people join together regardless of race, color or religious conviction, and where there is acceptance of and commitment to one another.

3. Communication is participatory. Participatory communication may challenge the authoritarian structures in society, in the churches and in the media, while democratizing new areas of life. It may also challenge some of the 'professional rules' of the media, whereby the powerful, rich and glamorous occupy centre stage to the exclusion of ordinary men, women and children. Participatory communication, finally, can give people a new sense of human dignity, a new experience of community, and the enjoyment of a fuller life.

4. Communication liberates. Communication which liberates, enables people to articulate their own needs and helps them to act together to meet those needs. It enhances their sense of dignity and underlines their right to full participation in the life of society. It aims to bring about structures in society which are more just, more egalitarian and more conducive to the fulfillment of human rights.

5. Communication supports and develops cultures. Communicators now have an awesome responsibility to use and develop indigenous forms of communication. They have to cultivate a symbolic environment of mutually shared images and meanings which respect human dignity and the religious and cultural values which are at the heart of Third World cultures. One of the greatest assets of today's world is its many different cultures, revealing the richness of God's image in all its diversity.

6. Communication is prophetic. Prophetic communication stimulates critical awareness of the reality constructed by the media and helps people to distinguish truth from falsehood, to discern the subjectivity of the journalist and to disassociate that which is ephemeral and trivial from that which is lasting and valuable. Often it is necessary to develop alternative communication so that prophetic words and deeds can be realized."

8

An Exhortation

Here are some alternative values, responses to and uses of Global Media for Jesus followers to consider:

Intead of self-promotion - Raising awareness on a mass scale of the plight of the poor through media advocacy, and creatively and artistically moving audiences to action.

Instead of separation - Engagement as "Roaring Lambs" within the media industries, producing quality, innovative media Art... be salt and light.

Instead of ignorance & isolation - Engagement through Media Literacy (and study of Media Ecology) and theological reflection, in order to know how media functions, what it does, and how God is already at work within it. (see also the Media & Family wiki)

Instead of seeking profits or selfish gain - Making liberating media technologies available to those whose voices, skills and gifts have been ignored. (see also the Global Technology wiki)

Instead of creating only for our local community - Provide mass media resources, free of charge whenever possible, for the churches worldwide that have less access to such resources.

Instead of getting News/information from only one "pet" source - Get News/info from multiple sources, so as to have a broader picture of the world and what's happening in it, and not merely one view sponsored by a limited set of corporate agendas.

Instead of making copycat products - Creative artistic innovation, including educating ourselves in good style, aesthetics, and effective techniques... so our products are not behind the curve but on the leading edge.

Instead of making the typical accusations - Be aware of what forces really control the media (i.e. conservative corporate America more so than liberal culture)... also acknowledging we are not merely passive victims because in this market consumers have a great amount of control.

Instead of reinforcing negative stereotypes & enforcing the status quo - Focus not on the powerful, rich, beautiful or famous, but rather use media to tell the stories of the marginalized and the "least of these."

Instead of consumption for self-gratification - Let's use our "discretionary entertainment time" to "consume" products that help us to help others, to align our hearts with God's heart, to understand how he desires for us to engage with the world.

Instead of passively being influenced and fed the truth about the world - Let's apprehend the truth for ourselves and actively speak truth to each other and to the world.

However we approach it, our response as Christ-followers must not be to hide. Christ is active and moving in the areas of Media and Popular Culture, even on a Global scale, and if we are to his followers we must be willing to follow him anywhere, even into the Industries that create and govern Global Media. We have a unique contribution to make as a people who are called to seek truth, elevate beauty, and fight injustice everywhere we see it. Media communication has the potential to be used to further those pursuits and raise up the voices that could be lost. But it will not unless Christ-minded people actively engage in their lives and their work to make it so.

A wonderful exhortation toward this call comes from Christ-following artist and writer Charlie Peacock: “I should rise each day and ask God, ‘What rubble do you want me to breathe your life into today? Where do you want the Kingdom rule to be made visible? How can I help to make something or someone beautiful?’ This kind of lifestyle is world-changing, and you never know how far or how long a story will travel on its trajectory of good.”