wfn.org | News show to premiere Feb. 7

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3388 notes).

Note 3388 by UMNS on Jan. 22, 1997 at 16:08 Eastern (4233 characters).

SEARCH: news, UMCom, News Odyssey, Bill Dale, Judith Weidman
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:   Linda Green                              34(10-21-71BP){3388}
           Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470                 Jan. 22, 1997

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photo available to accompany this story.

Religious news show set to air Feb. 7; 
show thought-provoking, producer says

by Nancye M. Willis*

      NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-- "A lot of people want to be made
to think, but not told what to think," said Bill Dale, senior
producer for "News Odyssey," a new 30-minute weekly "news-
driven" series.
      "News Odyssey," produced for the Odyssey interfaith cable
network by United Methodist Communications (UMCom), premieres
Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. (ET).  Weekly Friday broadcasts will repeat
Saturdays at 2 a.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. (all times
ET).  The show will move into a new, permanent, prime-time slot
in April.
      "News Odyssey" represents an effort "to examine current
events from the perspective of religion," according to Dale. 
The program is aimed both at people already in the pew and
viewers who "are not totally turned off by religion, but don't
want it to come from a particular point of view," he added.
      According to the Rev. Judith Weidman, UMCom's top exective,
"News Odyssey" has a goal of "nothing less than influencing the
moral discourse in the public arena.  This ought to be part of
the media strategy of the communications agency of the United
Methodist Church."
      To help viewers consider religion's impact on everyday
life, UMCom will offer a weekly leaders' guide, linking the
subjects covered by on-air personalities to biblical and other
discussion starters.
      The leaders' guide will be accessible each Friday through
the United Methodist Information home page at http://www.umc.org
on the Internet.  Viewers are encouraged to tape Friday-evening
broadcasts for use, along with suggestions in the guide, in
Sunday-morning church-school classrooms or other study settings.
      Dale said an audience for the new program is expected to
develop easily because "most people have a really deep interest
in news and watch TV and listen to the radio to learn what is
news."
      "News is a very non-threatening way to talk about religion-
related subjects to people who are not always comfortable
discussing religion," he pointed out.
      The show will have an ecumenical base but will not be
limited to what is going on within the Christian faith. To
illustrate, he said interfaith news might focus on burgeoning
non-Christian religious groups in the United States, a Muslim
sports figure who publicly behaves in a manner strictly
forbidden by that faith group, or emergence of a large and
growing Buddhist community in the nation's heartland. 
      Weighted toward domestic concerns, "News Odyssey" will
reflect the worldwide scene, opening and closing with brief
round-ups of the week's current events.
      A lead story, identified by production staff early in the
week of broadcast, will be fortified with an in-depth interview
conducted by field producer Hicks Neal.  
      Anchor Demetria Kalodimos, well-known news anchor for WSMV-
TV in Nashville, and reporter Robert Jordan, weekend anchor for
Chicago's WGN-TV, make up the rest of the on-camera team.
      Production staff includes UMCom employees Wil Bane,
Jeaneane Jones, Ginny Underwood, Leslie Alexander, Vince Isner,
Harry Leake and Fran Sweatt. 
      The Odyssey Network, which reaches almost 30 million
households in nearly 1,500 cable systems nationwide, is jointly
owned by subsidiaries of the National Interfaith Cable Coalition
Inc. (NICC) and of Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI).  NICC is a
consortium of 64 Protestant, Jewish, Catholic and Eastern
Orthodox faith groups, including the United Methodist Church.

                                 # # #
      *Willis is marketing information specialist in the Public
Media Division of United Methodist Communications.  She writes
and edits the monthly marketing newsletter Transmitter.

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