On Tuesday, May 23, a panel of media leaders gathered at the 2023 NRB International Christian Media Convention in Orlando, Florida to explore how viewpoint diversity, public policy, and truth in media are damaged or even destroyed by false and misleading depictions of the Christian faith.
Moderated by Billy Hallowell (author and CBN News Digital Media Host), the panel featured John Solomon (CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Just the News), Lauren Green (Chief Religion Correspondent at Fox News), Cheryl Chumley (Opinion Editor at The Washington Times), and Isabel Brown (independent content creator and author).
Armed with insight on the current media environment, the participants in this NRB Forum unpacked the misrepresentations of Christians in the media and offered steps that Christians can take to help restore truth and integrity to the media’s depiction of Christianity.
Hallowell said, “We have a culture that is completely transformed and changed as a result of Hollywood and media and universities, and there is a responsibility among all of us to help right that shift and correct those errors in stories.”
“You are preconditioned to have certain beliefs as there was an effort on the left to control the language,” offered Solomon. For example: “Are you going to be called anti-abortion or are you going to be called pro-life?”
Green added that Christians “are treated more as an anomaly. I don’t think the mainstream media really understands Christianity and they certainly don’t understand Christians. What I see is a lack of theological knowledge about Christianity and so that feeds their disgust of Christianity.”
“Today we are dealing with a generation that is spiritually starving,” said Brown.“I think for so long, in the past 10-15 years, Christians have not gone on offense.”
“The culture drives the media and the media drives the culture,” Chumley remarked. “That means there’s a tremendous opportunity for Christians in the media to have a huge impact.”
This Forum was sponsored by FaithSearch Partners and FOX News Media.
NRB Forums are forward-looking panel discussions on timely cultural issues presented live at the annual NRB International Christian Media Convention. Learn more about NRB Convention here.
