wfn.org | Two TV Specials Look at Race in Religion and the Media

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

10-June-1998 
98167 
    Two Television Specials Look at 
    Race in Religion and the Media 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
NEW YORK- How the church and the media have reflected the spiritual and 
cultural diversity of modern American life is the subject of two television 
documentaries produced by the National Council of Churches (NCC). 
    Both programs are slated for airing on the Odyssey network and two 
major television networks - ABC and NBC - in the fall. 
    According to NCC production officials, the documentaries are based on 
the premise that two events in the early 1950s "coincided to change 
irrevocably the nature of community: the arrival of television as a mass 
medium of communication, and the 1954 Supreme Court decision - in "Brown 
vs. Board of Education" - that desegregated American schools. 
    The first documentary, with the working title "Race and the Media," 
examines how television and other mass media, such as commercial films, 
computers and the Internet, revealed a far more diverse community in the 
United States than most of us lived in and how the personal visions of mass 
media producers, directors and artists have contributed to greater 
multicultural and multiracial understanding. 
    The program also includes interviews with consumers of mass media 
around the country to assess capacity of media to transform people's 
perceptions and lives. 
    "Race and the Media" is the fourth in a series of four NCC-produced 
programs entitled "Horizons of the Spirit" and will be distributed to 
Odyssey and NBC affiliates in September. 
    The second program, "Racism and Reconciliation," examines how several 
faith communities are coming to terms with racism in their midst almost 50 
years after "Brown vs. Board of Education." 
    Produced by United Methodist Communications for the NCC, the program 
tells the stories of people working toward racial reconciliation in places 
where coming to grips with desegregation has been most difficult.  "Race 
and Reconciliation" also visits churches where people of many races and 
cultures worship together, sometimes in multilingual services, as models of 
encouragement for other communities. 
    "Racism and Reconciliation" is the first program in the annual "Visions 
and Values" series and will be distributed to Odyssey and ABC affiliates in 
October. 
    Viewers should check their local stations and listings for the exact 
date and time of broadcast in their area. 

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