By Rev. Brian Fesler,
senior pastor of the Church of Scientology in Nashville, Tenn., and a member of
the national board of governors for the Religion Communicators Council.
More
than a hundred journalists, editors, publishers and other communications
professionals convened April 10 at the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago
for the combined annual conventions of the Religion Communicators Council (RCC)
and Associated Church Press (ACP).
Entitled
“Seeing in New Ways: Possibilities and Perceptions,” the convention brought
together two of the oldest professional associations in the field of religion
communications. RCC, formed in 1929, is the oldest interfaith professional
organization in the world and has the mission “to provide opportunities for
networking and professional development for people working in communications
for a wide variety of faith-based organizations,” while the ACP, tracing its
origin to a 1916 meeting, is brought together by a “common commitment to
excellence in journalism as a means to describe, reflect, and support the life
of faith and the Christian community.”
The
convention opened with a challenge from its organizing committee: in a world of
chaos, “What are we doing as communicators to make it better?” The opening
plenary by award-winning journalist and author Judith Valente, senior
correspondent for NPR affiliate WGLT Radio and writer for U.S. Catholic and
National Catholic Reporter, explored that challenge and offered insights drawn
from the deep well of Valente's observation tempered by her years of experience
with the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and PBS-TV.
“Reporting
is a sacred trust,” said Valente, describing how journalists accompany people
through tragedy, suffering and defeat as well as victory and new life.
“Journalists must live on the margins of life. Stand apart, to see more clearly
the forest for the social media. ... Ours is a post-truth era, an age of
‘alternate facts.’ We've reached a crisis point – we're all too willing as a
society to accept exaggeration, misrepresentation of facts and sheer delusion
as truth.”
Valente
implored those present to play a primary role as a listener, saying only then
could one channel another's experience. Drawing on the theme of the convention,
she asked “How can we as religion communicators be seekers of truth and still
uncover new perspectives?” Her most recent book, “How to Live: What the Rule of
St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community,” provided a
basis for some answers to that question.
Faith
reporting today is about “what it means to be alive in the twenty-first
century,” Valente said, “The most compelling story can be someone living out
their faith.” She detailed moving coverage of a meeting between a Muslim leader
and a leader in the LGBT community in the wake of a tragic incident, and a
story about a Tennessee pastor pushing the envelope to shine light on the HIV
crisis. She stressed that “how people live out their faith” is as worthy of
attention as other news, politics and the arts, and that the contracting of
faith and values coverage by mainstream media outlets should be viewed as an
opportunity for the religious press to use other avenues for getting the
stories out – stories that may be about what is new, “but also about what is
essential.”
So,
what can religion communicators do to make this world a better place? Listen
attentively, see in new ways. Find the truth in every story, and find stories
in the truth of the lives of those who live their faith. Consider the views of
those who conspire as well as those who inspire; write the good, expose the
bad. Push pens across pages and keys into keyboards. In short, communicate. For
more information about the Religion Communicators Council, visit
religioncommunicators.org.
Rev.
Brian Fesler is senior pastor of the Church of Scientology in Nashville,
Tennessee and a member of the national board of governors for the Religion
Communicators Council.
