A popular Auckland documentary maker believes that Christians working in the mainstream media face the same pressures as Christians in any other industry.
Rob Harley, a multi-award- winning investigative journalist entering his 35th year in the industry says the world is not asking “tell me”, “but show me”.
He says that over the years it is possible to “build a platform of credibility in the way that you work”.
Harley says many Christians in the media were grateful for the prayer support given by thousands of Christians in hundreds of churches throughout New Zealand during the recent Media Prayer Day.
He says those prayers help him deal with the day-to-day pressures of living out his Christian faith in the workplace. “To a large extent the thing that occupies my mind as a journalist working in mainstream media is — how would I like to be treated if I were on the receiving end of this media attention?” he said.
Harley has used his extensive media experience to help develop resources for the church. Since being launched eight years ago, the Journeys five-week DVD course has been run in more than 1000 New Zealand churches.
The Christian Broadcasting Association (CBA) launched the Media Prayer Day in 2000, with the support and endorsement of denominational leaders.
Phil Guyan, managing trustee for CBA, believes the prayers can make a real difference.
“Media is one of the most influential contributors to society — it shapes people’s attitudes and behaviour like nothing else,” he explained.
Mr Guyan said CBA, which was formed to communicate the essentials of the Christian faith to those who have never understood was “dependent on prayer, and we’re always asking people to pray for us”.
The organisation uses top-rating secular commercial radio to reach mass audiences of people “who would never set foot inside a church”.
Over the past 10 years CBA has broadcast more than 2400 programmes to New Zealand’s largest radio audiences, averaging 180,000 listeners each working day.
The vision is to produce a wide range of positive, thought-provoking Christian programmes for top secular radio networks across the country.
Mr Guyan adds, however, that not all the media were open to the Christian voice. “Where good relationships have been formed with key decision makers the answer is ‘yes’. Where there is no relationship, and all they want is a sound bite, often it is no.”
To help promote the Day, television personalities Jim Hickey, Petra Bagust, Rob Harley and Simon Barnett featured in a DVD in which they talk about the importance of prayer, especially as it relates to their media roles.
Churches were encouraged to pray for: Christians who work within New Zealand's mainstream media and who produce programming specifically for mainstream media; People of influence within the mass media; Media gatekeepers — those who make decisions which give voice to a Christian perspective or prevent an authentic Christian voice from being heard and Christian media.
