The rapid rise in digital communication technologies is re-shaping traditional media industries and even what gets defined as media.  Remember when the cell phone was just a portable device for making a telephone call?

CJ Casciotta of conversantlife.com and media activist Phil Cooke looked at the impact of these changes on Christian media during a live online discussion titled “Is Religious Media Dead?”

According to Cooke, the state of Christian media…particularly radio and television… is not good. His diagnosis included at least 10 symptoms that would indicate religious media, if not dead, is in need of immediate resuscitation.

Religious Media Ailing:  What are the Symptoms?

1. Growth and effectiveness limited by scheduling back-to-back preaching programs
2. The perception by the general public that all religious programming is bad
3. Aging audience of predominantly Women 55+
4. Tight control of media organizations over what is said and preached, and by whom
5. The “bubble effect” (preaching to the choir) created by commercialization
6. Insufficient audience size for attracting major national advertisers
7. Broken revenue model of programmers paying for time and raising financial support
8. Program producers replicating content instead of innovating
9. Failure to reach audience outside the church
10. Need for more focused goal setting

There won’t be agreement on all of the symptoms Cooke has identified or with every suggested remedy, some of which are outlined in his new book The Last TV Evangelist: Why the Next Generation Couldn’t Care Less About Religious Media and Why It Matters. That’s o.k.  What this interview does, is put a set of issues and honest questions about the future on the table.   Participants at the upcoming NRB Research Symposium will be asking similar questions in discussions titled “Current Religious Trends” and “Future Technological Environment.”

The search is on for the best way to build the future of religious media.

One idea being proposed is for communicators to find new ways to deliver “the message.”  A comment.  New creative approaches for presenting the gospel are fine, to a point. The Great Commission has been in place for 2000 years. The use of modern media forms to help carry it out has been in existence for about 100 years. When it comes to the handling of God’s word (teaching/preaching)…whatever media or technology used…religious broadcasters will, I’m certain, not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Is this the end of Christian media? I don’t believe so. The need for the gospel is immense.  God has provided the tools.  Traditional media and new technologies must all be used.  Is change called for? Yes! It’s happening to all sectors of our society, wanted or not.  It’s an opportunity that should be embraced.

We will continue to cover the dialogue, the issues, and the innovative ideas for going forward in subsequent posts.