The MediaNet January 2018 newsletter.

View this email in your browser

President Trump shuns mainstream news networks - but not the Christian Broadcast Network

Ever since President Donald Trump entered the White House last January, mainstream news organisations have struggled to get the right to interview him.

But there is one Christian news organisation that has bucked the trend - the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) which has made no secret of its conservative evangelical Republican party support base to get better access to the Oval Office than many of their mainstream secular rivals.

It is no exaggeration to say that the president has throughout his time in power given CBN unprecedented access to the White House.

Not only that. but Mr Trump has also succeeded in delivering on many of the priorities of the conservative right, including nominating a conservative Supreme Court Justice and appointing opponents of abortion rights to key positions in his administration.

For CBN's journalists and commentators - and others on the evangelical right - the president's tenure in office has been boom time.

CBN's 700 Club talk show is hosted by controversial televangelist and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson and has now become one of the most sought-after slots for the president and his supporters.

CBN had two interviews with the president throughout 2017 - putting it on a par with The Wall Street Journal and more than The Washington Post, NPR reported.

It says that Mr Robertson cited a Bible verse after the mass killings in Las Vegas last October which warned that man's wickedness will lead to "violence and strife".

He then went on to make a connection between violence in the US and what he described as a lack of respect for authority, including a "profound disrespect of our president, all across this nation".

Mr Robertson has spoken sympathetically of Mr Trump several times since the latter's election, and last summer told him that he is "so proud of everything you're doing".

Mr Trump himself has never been reluctant to highlight what he says are his Christian credentials. CBN's chief political correspondent David Brody estimates to have interviewed Mr Trump about 20 times, including a cross-examination for a book about the president's faith that is due out in February.

Days after Mr Trump's inauguration Mr Brody was one of the first correspondents to sit down with the new president at the White House to question him about the presidential "spiritual journey" and his attitudes to prayer.

"I tell you what," Mr Trump told Mr Brody, "I've always felt the need to pray, so I would say that the office is so powerful that you need God even more."

Vice President Mike Pence has also - in interviews with Mr Brody - described the president as a genuine Christian "believer".

"I think President Trump has a heart of gratitude for evangelical Christians in this country," Mr Pence said.

Mr Trump's relationship with evangelical leaders has prospered despite allegations against him from numerous women of sexual harassment and assault.

It has also caused much hand-wringing and so small amount of consternation in the UK, where both the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, have expressed concern.

“If people want to support rightwing populism anywhere in the world, they are free to do so. The question is, how are they going to relate that to their Christian faith?" Bishop Bayes told The Guardian.

“And if what I believe are the clear teachings of the gospel about love for all, the desire for justice and for making sure marginalised and defenceless people are protected, if it looks as though those teachings are being contradicted, then I think there is a need to say so.”

What We're Reading...

As we ponder our new year resolutions it might be worth looking at the example of Jonathan Edwards, America's great 18th-century theologian, ABC comments.

Is it acceptable for Christians to make resolutions for the new year? Yes, in fact it is important to do so. says the Winston Salem Journal

The nine social media trends we can expect in 2018 include video content, augmented reality and greater use of artificial intelligence, Chris Parbey of Edgylabs says.

Evangelical Christians in the US have a brand problem and a major product problem, principally because the Republican party has been using Christianity’s good name to cover bad deeds, comments Alternet.

While US conservatives claim Christ as one of their own, he was in fact the unemployed son of two asylum-seekers with all the personal traits of a modern revolutionary, The New Statesman confidently asserts.

Plans are afoot to have British mothers’ names included on marriage certificates. Premier reports, changing rules that have existed for 200 years.

Jobs Board

Here are a just a few of the latest new job vacancies in the industry worth taking a look at, for you or someone you know about:

easyJet Traveller,Deputy Editor

Cosmopolitan Beauty Writer

Save the Student Digital Editor

The Big Issue, Digital Editor

Control Risks, Editor

Volkswagen Group, Staff Writer

Yahoo UK Head of Sport

Reporter- The Daily Beast

Social Video Producer. Economy

Press Assistant, Science Museum, Group

Editor, 5 News

Head of Media and Public Affairs. British Veterinary Association

Media and Public Relations Officer x 2, London Councils

Broadcast Journalist (Multimedia), Sao Paulo, BBC Brasil

Social Media Broadcast Assistant, BBC Sport

Senior Content Editor, the Brain Tumour Charity

Editor, Geoscientist magazine

What Does the Media Look Like in 2018?

- Earlybird tickets just £10 until this Friday! -

In January 2017, many of you joined us for our inaugural event in a series of future-casting events we're planning for the start of each year. We had such a great response and turnout,and so we'd like to formally invite you to the next one in just a few weeks.

Tuesday 30th January 2018 at Tanner Warehouse, London Bridge - 6-9pm

Find out more over at our Eventbrite page and grab your tickets!

We can't wait for you to join us!

Exploring Belief:
The Inaugural Religion and Media Festival

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson will headline the first Exploring Belief festival, to be held in London next March. Along with screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce, James Harding (formerly Editor of The Times and BBC Head of News & Current Affairs) and BBC Commissioners Fatima Solaria and Mohit Bakaya, a heavyweight line-up of speakers will take a fresh look at the way religion is reported in the media.

The Festival will celebrate the best in programming in this area, provide programme makers with the latest news about the needs of broadcasters, host master classes, and debate controversial issues in which faith is involved.

Exploring Belief takes place at JW3 in North London on Tuesday 27 March 2018 and is jointly produced by Coexist House, ComRes and JW3. Booking information at JW3 website.

Christians in Media - Get Social

Join our thriving Facebook community group Christians in Media UK! It's a space for all of us working in the media to chat with one another, share stories, ask for advice and talk about what we're working on - a great online networking opportunity. We've been pleased to see this group grow to over 160 all over the country in just a few weeks, and we'd love to see more of you on there sharing your experiences and supporting one another!

Please post your questions, dilemmas, ask for advice, tell us what you're up to and if you need help - let's connect with one another here and grow this into more local, face to face networking where you are!

The Medianet's Twitter page is also regularly updated, so please make sure you follow us and keep abreast of what's going on in the news and what we're up to. We pride ourselves on being a fully interactive organisation, so if you have anything that you would like to comment on concerning faith and work, do not please hesitate to contact us.

Catch up with our podcast series #Signal on iTunes or on Soundcloud, and if you're a longtime listener we'd ask that you please leave a star rating and review so we can reach more people in the industry.

We would love to hear from you about it! If you have a story to tell about your experience in the media with your faith, or thoughts on what you'd love to hear us talk about - get in touch! You can email signal@themedianet.org or tweet @themedianet with #signal.

Asking for Prayer

A vital part of our work as the MediaNet is to foster community and fellowship for Christians working in the media, and a huge part of doing so is by praying for one another.

We'd like to encourage our community to ask for prayer any time, go to www.themedianet.org/ask-for-prayer to find out more about our prayer service.

Keep Up To Date on Our Website