I saw a comedian spotlighting a Fox News report earlier this week. It was on a stalker in Florida who’s killing prostitutes. But the whole time a serious discussion was going on about murder and rape, Fox had 2/3 of the screen showing salacious close-ups of young women in bikinis on spring break. The comedian said that a good bit of advice for young women going on spring break is that if you see a cameraman crawling down your cleavage you should perhaps move along. It reminded me of the time a while back when Fox News was on at the health club and they were doing the weather with bikini-clad Playboy playmates washing cars behind them.
So much of television is just for ratings. Bill O’Reilly can’t be that obnoxious, can he? Do you suppose Nancy Grace cuts people off like that at home? (How do her antics we witnessed with Rubel this week fit with the piece about her in Guideposts that a reader linked in a comment?)
I’m very thankful for Christ-followers who are seeping into areas of media–internet, newspaper, television, radio. What a great opportunity to be salt and light. I think, e.g., of Lester Holt, a weekend anchor of the Today Show and a member of the Manhattan Church of Christ. And I think of Sarah, who participates in this blog, who’s working at CNN.
Who are some others you know of — people who are living out their calling to follow Jesus in the world of news and entertainment? (Grant, are you reading today? Can you tell a little about traveling as an anchor for the Golf Channel?)
Great question p. mike. I hope there are many comments today. I would love to see Lester Holt interview Nancy Grace. Bill was not so bad when he first started, all he cared about was beating Larry King in the ratings. I think that power thing is happening.
For all the important news, there is Rece Davis at ESPN.
Mike,
The name at the top of my list would be Jerry Mitchell, the investigative reporter for the Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger whose work on old Civil Rights Era murder cases has brought a string of Klansmen to justice. When I visited with Jerry in Jackson last summer (after attending services at the Skyway Hills Church of Christ in Pearl where Jerry presided over communion), he talked about how his Christian desire to see justice influenced his journalism career. Jerry is a journalism graduate of Harding University, by the way.
Wonderful news about Jerry: According to sources who talked to Editor & Publisher Magazine, Jerry is a finalist in beat reporting for a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest award. If anybody deserves it, it’s him. The winners (and the official list of finalists) will be announced April 17.
– Bobby
You’re right, Bobby. Jerry is a hero.
My favorite christian journalists are Deana Nall, writer for Baytown newspaper and Michelle Morris, writer [and lots of other positions] for ACU.
Don’t forget Jim Jinkins. Ten years ago, when I was preaching at Wallingford, CT, Jim came over from Stamford and did a Sunday evening talk about his life as a Christian in the entertainment biz. He brought sections of film (actual pieces of film) and animation stills from “Doug” and autographed them for everyone. It was terrific!
How about everyone at WORLD magazine?
Regarding Fox News.
Julian Phillips, host on Fox & Friends on the weekends, is a devout Christian. When he finishes up on Sunday mornings he goes directly to church. Add Molly Henniberg to the list, her car was recently stolen and she said all she wanted back was her Bible . Steve Doocy is a devout Catholic and a Godly Christian man as well.
I prefer Fox over CNN does am I bad?
Greg Hurst is an anchor for Channel 11 news here in Houston. A goof friend of mine whose the youth minister where Greg Hurst worships has talked many times about his generosity and compassion. He has often been a major voice for Lifeline Chaplancy as well. He’s one who glorifies God and elevates the perceptions of others of who Jesus is, both in the community as a public figure and as a follower of Christ in his church family.
Mike-
My second cousin, Brad Abrell, does lots of special effects and voice overs in Hollywood. For example, he created the worm men in Men in Black (the ones who are drinking coffee in the breakroom) and did some voices for them. He’s worked on many another thing as well. His wife is trying to make it as an actress right now and is recording a pilot. They both say that at times they want to quit the business and move away from LA to raise their kids because they worry about trying to bring kids up in a Christian environment when the business they are in can seem so unChristian. Brad considers his job his ministry, and I’m thankful for that.
If you are a sports’ fan, you have to be proud of Kenny Perry. He’s a deacon in his hometown church of Franklin, Kentucky. He donates a significant percentage of his earnings to Lipscomb. He is a delightful person to know and be around–at least that’s what I read from those who are close to him.
When he is not playing golf he is often found at the pro shop of the golf course he built in the Franklin area so the average person could have a nice, affordable golf course to play.
He is a down to earth, caring person. One of the men who grew up in our church family in Melbourne oversees the locker room at Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando and he says that there is no finer person than Kenny Perry. He is a Christian man walks his walk, especially on the PGA tour. He sent this man and his co-worker a rather large check after he won Bay Hill last year, something that most of the winners never do.
His best season was last year when he finished sixth on the PGA Tour Money List.
Christian Chronicle did an article on him in 2003.
Here’s a three web articles on him.
http://kennyperry1.notlong.com
http://kennyperry2.notlong.com
http://kennyperry3.notlong.com
Peace
One of our elders at Tammany Oaks in Mandeville, Louisiana, Ted Jackson, is a long time employee and Senior Photo-Journalist for the New Orleans Times Picayune where he has won numerous awards for his photography over the years. His work is outstanding.
When hurricane Katrina struck, Ted was at work and continued to stay in New Orleans at great peril to himself so that he could shoot film and take pictures of all the people and devastation around him. He stayed for days and days without thinking of himself or his own needs so he could witness to and help those he came across in his work to tell their story.
If you go to nola.com online you will find photos and stories there from the Times Picayune. Many of the harrowing photos they published after the hurricane were taken by Ted Jackson.
In our new “warehouse” style church building we’d just completed 3 weeks before Katrina, we afterwards set up extensive relief efforts that are still ongoing and growing even now. We had long bulletin boards full of articles and photographs from the Times Picayune showcasing Ted’s work, which is compassionate in its images.
Ted would be a good subject for you to do a story on, Bobby, for Christian Chronicle next time you come down.
Thanks for this post today, Mike. This is a great way for us all to get to know each other a little better and to focus on many good and wonderful works being done by so many fellow Christians around us in media and entertainment.
In the past year or so I’ve been blogging, I’ve even seen many good things come through Christian bloggers. Many good things. I know that I have come to have a lot of readers who aren’t members of the Church of Christ or even other fellowships I know of who appreciate Christian writing and blogging.
I hope we all would be encouraged to look to our own blogs and walks in life to ways we can use media and entertainment ourselves for good and positive influences on others.
Thanks so much for these other names. Dee, what a significant role that’s been for Ted! Chad, didn’t know where Greg was now — last I knew he was in NYC.
Two photojournalists who have been moved by faith to bring the needs of the world to the public eye are David Leeson and Christopher Anderson (Lynn’s son).
It is certainly all about ratings (and money). Like Hooteewho, I prefer Fox. I suppose Fox is an easy target since they’re number one. But I’ve seen the same kind of garbage that Mike described on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, etc.
It would be great to see more believers in those positions.
–
Jody Dean, a member at Richland Hills has been on our local CBS affiliate as an afternoon ancholr and now has his own radio program on KLUV (http://www.kluv.com/JodyDean.shtm) a very popular morning program. He is an amazing man and an outspoken follower of the Lord.
Jerry “Boo” Mitchell went to Harding. He was in TNT! Greg Hurst, Melanie Lawson, and many others in the Houston media are believers.
Don’t forget Doug Poling who was with CBS radio for several years. I believe he is retired now and lives in Nashville, last I heard. He lived in NYC and attended Manhattan CofC.
I was privileged to hear Sherri Shepherd at the Women of Faith conference recently. She is an actress/comedienne who has appeared on Everybody Loves Raymond among other shows. She gave a powerful testimony of her conversion from living in the pit to coming to know Jesus. She had experienced a risky lifestlye to say the least and she was homeless in LA for a time. Now she embraces her role as salt and light in her world where she feels like she’s the only believer sometimes.
Thinking about Hollywood and our entertainment industry, it’s striking that the richest people can really be some of the poorest. And they don’t even know it. Praise God for those mentioned here that are taking Jesus into very challenging mission fields.
Ok, I’m a slow man at times. Of course there is Deana Nall who is a columnist for the Baytown Sun. Her faith is evident in the way she relates to those who she interviews when writing features and in her humor and writing as well as the way she responds to both fans and critics. She’s always the cutest journalist I’ve ever met. And I’m not biased.
When I was managing editor of the Optimist my senior year at ACU, Chris Anderson was one of our photographers. We all felt like a bunch of schmucks around him — he was so talented. It’s been great to watch where his career has taken him.
Hey, Chad — we have the same last name. What a coincidence! Let’s go out some time. Maybe have a couple of babies.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Al Yankovic! My ninth grade daughter is my source for this.
I also found the following — I have no idea regarding its accuracy, but it is interesting.
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_church_of_christ.html
David Campbell, ‘75 graduate of HU, is in business with Jim Jinkins(Lipscomb graduate). Both were very successful with the cartoon, “Doug” shown on TV a few years ago, & now have a production company known as “Cartoon Pizza”. They are in the process of making children’s DVD’s on the 10 commandments. The two out now are: commandment #8–”Stealing’s Uncool”, & commandment #2, “God Good, Idols Bad”. The characters are various breeds of dogs who play basketball together all the time. The whole series is called “Hoop Dogz”. Mercy Me did some of the songs on the ones out so far. They are cute, funny, & have a great message. David & his family attend the Manhattan Church of Christ, & Jim & his family attend the Stamford Church in CT. Both wonderful Christians blessed by God with creativity & senses of humor.
Meatloaf did spend a semester at LCC.
Buddy Holly’s high school sweetheart was a CoC girl and went to LCC. Her name was Echo McGuire.
Oops, Echo went to ACC, not LCC. Here’s a story about her: http://www.kcbd.com/global/story.asp?s=2262596&ClientType=Printable
Whatever happened to Jan Elkins? She was on the air in Shreveport/Bossier for several years. I think the last time I heard from her she was in Memphis.
Mike, have you read Roaring Lambs by Bob Briner? I found it to be an excellent book encouraging Christians to be salt and light in professions where, in the past, we Christians may have avoided (or stuck with other Christians for safety’s sake)…professions such as writing, movie-making (and acting), teaching, etc. All of these people that have been mentioned in the comments should be considered Roaring Lambs because they are making a difference in the world by both being good at what they do and living a Christian life. People will respect them and listen to them because they have earned respect through their professions. I thank God for all of these who have the boldness to be salt and light in the journalism world.
Juan Williams of NPR and an occasional Fox News annalyst wrote a great book about people of faith in Amreican history. Here locally, in Montgomery, we have Graham Dunn (a Vaughn Park member) who does sports journalism, Jeff Shearer of TV12 News, faithful member of 1st Baptist downtown, and Doug Amos, who goes to Landmark CoC hosts a morning sports talk show. I know these three men are men of God and am thankful for having them in our local media market.
My buddy, Steve Gwinn, rescued me from switching majors - from broadcasting to Bible - at a Milton Jones retreat in Leuders during my freshman year at ACU. Milton went all Luke 14 on us, and I was prepared to make the change until Steve convinced me my flock might be in bleachers, not pews. I’ll never be able to repay him for that counsel.
While I’ve had lots of opportunities to witness on the air by covering certain Kingdom stories and athletes, I cherish more than anything the times I spent with my non-Christian colleagues in the seemingly random moments. Kibbitzing before the show, the wisecracks during commercials, and the dinners afterward where real relationships were formed. These friends allowed me into their lives, patiently and willingly listened to my testimony, and in some cases taught me plenty about morality, though most of them weren’t/aren’t yet professed believers.
The organic nature of those relationships is what I miss most now that I’m not working on a regular basis. Mike, you can attest to my withdrawal symptoms since leaving that world and spending most of the last three years trying to convince Christians to give me their money (albeit to a kingdom-changing cause like Continent of Great Cities).
Sacrifice is cool. But I was a Roaring Lamb once. And it was awesome.
When my friends read these comments, they will get a giant grin on their faces. We have a ‘game’ we play in which we interject randomly into conversations that ____________ is a member of the church. If any celebrity is mentioned, it is likely one of us will say, ‘well, you know, they are members of the church.’ It’s fun when someone is around who gets an amazed look in their face and say, ‘they ARE???’ Well this is an inane comment … meaningless to most … but it was free. And by the way, did you know that Arnold Ziffle was a member of the church?
How about Buzz Ball?
Tim Hamilton, HU grad around 1980 has worked for Channel 7, ABC out of Little Rock since graduation I think. Paul Eels, the “voice of the Razorbacks,” has given Tim many cudos over the years about his work behind the scenes that makes Paul look good in front of a camera.
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