Theology and the Media
When I was a teenager, I was taught that you should study Scripture with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. In many ways an excellent teaching as it highlighted that the Bible was as relevant to our everyday lives as was the newspaper.
Unfortunately, the quality of newspapers in Australia has declined disastrously, as has the mainstream media in general. This has become painfully clear in the recent coverage of the war in Gaza, though the decline has been underway for many years. While in Australia, the Murdoch media is the major culprit in terms of replacing legitimate news with infotainment and right-wing propaganda, it is not alone in failing in its responsibility to inform Australians on the important issues of the day. Even the ABC, in part because of the ongoing funding cuts, cannot be trusted in the way it was some decades ago.
In reaction, many people have taken to social media to try to understand the world round them. Unfortunately, social media is subject to the same pressures to provide misinformation. The recent transformation of Twitter to X highlights the transformation of a rather benign social media platform into one that is toxic.
All this has theological implications for the progressive Christian. How are we as 21st century Christians to engage in the unfolding Kingdom/Reign/Estate of God if we are not aware of the current situation in the real world? If all we see is a distorted and limited view served up to us by the mainstream media? How are we to pray? How are we to act? How are we to understand the movement of God’s spirit in the actuality of our experience?
I could exhort readers to do the extra work of getting behind the stories served up to us daily by the mainstream media. However, I know this is difficult. I have to do it, because of my role as a facilitator with Against the Wind. It takes time and effort and a certain amount of skill in research and sifting various accounts.
As an aid for people who want to get beyond the misleading mainstream media reporting, I have created a webpage entitled Questioning the Media. It is a simple guide to some of the important stories that haven’t appeared in the mainstream media as well as some suggestions for the better sources of information within the media. It is not meant to be comprehensive – that would be too time consuming to do. Rather it is a brief guide, that anyone can quickly check out.
You can access the page here https://woden-valley.uca.org.au/groups-and-activities/questioning-the-media/
The page is relatively new and so I would love to have feedback from readers, including suggestions for articles or sources to include.
Feedback can be given to againstthewind.wvuc@gmail.com
Len Baglow, Facilitator, Against the Wind
oOo
Dr. Victoria Fielding from the Adelaide university has headed
up a study into the Murdoch Referendum coverage. and the final report is now available.
Google Murdoch Referendum accountability Study.
Theology and the Media – Thanks Len. I’m in total agreement with you. We have entered a period in history where toxic social media and extremist right wing media influence the minds of those less able to research the truth. Conspiracy theories abound and many seem unable and undesirous of differentiating these from actuality. The USA experience where millions believed that Donald Trump was robbed of his presidency and almost staged a coup is a good example of the damage that can be done by misinformation and falsehoods.. Further to alienate us from what is true we now have AI able to create a new para-world life that has no basis in reality. We are living in shadows. Somehow amongst this darkness in contrast the simplicity of the message of love that Jesus brought to our world radiates light and truth.