United Nations Commission on Human Rights, April 17, 2001
The turn of the twenty-first century occasioned the turning of many descriptive phrases: the information age, the telecommunications age, the technology age. Today more people have access to more information, transmitted by a wider array of telecommunication technologies, than ever before. That's the good news.The bad news is twofold. First, the gap between the information-rich and the information-poor has widened greatly. Second, what, when, and how information is distributed is controlled increasingly by a small and shrinking number of large corporations. For example, AOL, the world's largest Internet provider, has merged with the Time-Warner book, magazine, and cable empire. Someday Time-Warner might stop carrying NBC's cable news channel since it competes with CNN, its own cable channel.
In many countries, national governments control all the news media. Some governments prevent citizens from having access to external media.
Access to information is essential to the mission of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM). In 1998, the GBGM's general secretary, Dr. Randolph Nugent, began to focus on the need for appropriate technology, such as radio, to carry the Gospel and the United Methodist mission message around the world. It had become clear that, even as new technologies were flooding the markets in developed countries, many people around the world still had no access to the older technologies. With Dr. Nugent's leadership and the support of the GBGM directors, a strategy for using appropriate technology has emerged and continues to evolve. In a speech at the annual meeting of the World Association of Christian Communicators in June 2000, Dr. Nugent reported:
"We find ourselves at a time when, not only are we experiencing globalization and domination, but also choices are being made about who the players and participants will be in communications, the economy, and the society ... Questions are being raised about who will be denied the privilege and the opportunity and who will have to be given assistance in order to participate.
"In a time such as ours, when we have to grapple with issues such as privacy, communications control, police surveillance, and censorship...the diversity and the pluralism so very necessary to accurate reporting are gradually being eroded....A certain sameness concerning the information provided was beginning to be a problem even when ownership of the media was dispersed. It is even more so now that ownership and control of the media are becoming centralized."
The goal of the GBGM's telecommunications strategy is to provide ways to bring Gospel witness to people all over the world, to strengthen Christian congregations and communities, to alleviate human suffering, and to seek justice, freedom, and peace. Our strategy is to utilize a combination of appropriate technologies to reach God's children everywhere.
Initial research: Africa became the first context for a GBGM radio program. Not only is the church in sub-Saharan Africa the fastest growing part of The United Methodist Church, it is growing in a region ravaged by diseases, wars, and poverty—scourges that are killing people every day.
Throughout the African continent, access to news information, Christian dialogue, and culturally appropriate programming is often difficult to find. In some African countries, all media are controlled by national governments. In others, civil wars and political unrest put local broadcasters and journalists in jeopardy.
A growing group of local community radio stations, primarily in rural areas, is providing great service on a shoestring budget. In a study conducted by the World Association of Community Radio (AMARC), more than 90 percent of African community radio stations said they would be willing to broadcast programs dealing with HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Yet, last year, owing to a lack of resources, half of that group did not broadcast a single program on the subject.
Distribution of self-powered radios: Radios are not readily available in Africa. There is limited electricity and the cost of batteries is prohibitive. Thus the GBGM began exploring self-powered radios with solar panels, wind-up generators, or both. One radio was designed specifically for use in Africa after Trevor Bayliss, a British engineer, saw a television documentary about the rapid spread of AIDS there.
In February 2000, floods devastated much of southern Mozambique. The government made an international plea for self-powered radios so that flood victims could stay informed about survival issues while they waited in refugee camps for the flood waters to subside. In response to this call for action, the GBGM assisted the Methodist Church of Mozambique in distributing 4000 Freeplay radios to churches, schools, community and women's groups, and health leaders. Volunteers with radios waded through mud, borrowed rowboats, rented trucks, and even hitched a ride with a farmer on a tractor in order to get the radios to the people who needed them.
A year after the Mozambique floods, five students from the Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University teamed up with students from Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo to assess the usefulness of the radios. Their research showed that 79 percent of the people said they could not afford to purchase radio batteries, making self-powered radios a very important tool. An astounding 50 percent said they discussed with others the information they heard on the radio—which bodes well for the dissemination of data about health and for the spread of religious education. The students also found that the Mozambicans used radios for sending personal messages, much as telephones are used. This points up the need for locally produced programming.
Funding for self-powered radios: At the final meeting of the 1997-2000 quadrennium, GBGM directors were each given a self-powered radio to use as an interpretive tool. All were asked to raise funds for the radios, which cost $50 apiece. In addition, GBGM staff promoted the radios at jurisdictional and annual-conference events. Thanks to the commitment and creativity of those former directors and dedicated staff, more than $40,000 has been raised for radio purchase and distribution to date.
Radio Africa International: A column in the March-April issue of New World Outlook described "Radio Africa International," the GBGM's daily shortwave radio program. Given situations that might endanger broadcasters or hamper free radio programming in Africa—such as civil wars or government censorship—the GBGM decided to produce the program at its studios in New York. Drawing upon the wealth of African resources in the New York area and involving visiting African bishops and others from the continent, a staff of three produces this daily program. Soon they will be joined by correspondents from all over Africa. At present, the program broadcasts for four hours a day—two hours in English and two in French. Future plans include producing the same program in Portuguese. Eventually, at least part of the program production will move to a safe and accessible location on the African continent.
Low-powered radio: Recently the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to license 10- to 100-watt radio stations to nonprofit organizations. Seeing this as a good opportunity for inner city, ethnic, and poor rural communities to have their own voice, the GBGM joined with ecumenical partners and other community-based organizations to advocate for these frequencies and to encourage United Methodist institutions to apply for them.
Despite recent media stories to the contrary, the Low-Powered FM (LPFM) initiative is still alive, although encumbered by new obstacles. Some rural United Methodist communities are likely to obtain licenses soon. However, because of the obstacles that limit access to LPFM, the GBGM is also exploring low-power AM, which does not require an FCC license. The coverage area is very, very small—just a block or two in an urban setting—but if the programming is streamed on the Internet, anyone in the world with Internet access and a computer that can stream audio can hear the programs.
Suitcase radio stations: During the course of our research, we found a radio station literally built into a suitcase. Inside the suitcase is all the equipment needed to run a full-service radio station at the price of $5000. This suitcase packaging makes it possible to use a portable radio station when operating under adverse conditions. A suitcase radio station can also serve isolated villages.
Children's programming in the Philippines: The GBGM provided a grant to the Methodist Church of the Philippines to develop a children's radio program. The church's use of dramatic storytelling, along with well-produced sound effects and music, brings religious programming to young people in a creative and entertaining way. The church hopes to produce a weekly radio program that would be distributed to existing radio stations throughout the Philippines. Eventually, the GBGM hopes to work on radio development with its mission partners throughout the world.
The GBGM has two conference rooms with teleconferencing capabilities and also has a portable, briefcase-sized satellite dish. These resources allow direct two-way communication between mission partners around the world and GBGM staff members. Additional portable satellite dishes would enable live point-to-point communication throughout the world.
The GBGM's foray into the World Wide Web grew out of an increasing need to disseminate AIDS-awareness information. By 1994, the GBGM had a website that was growing by leaps and bounds in every direction. Today 23,000 web visitors come to the GBGM site each month. More than 18,000 of these visitors are new to the site. Part of the high traffic of new visitors can be attributed to coverage of news stories. For example, articles on AIDS or on the US Navy's bombing exercises on the island of Vieques now have topical links with major search engines.
With increased staff support, the GBGM website is becoming more user-friendly. It will soon provide an interactive web experience by offering an integrated source of information that is easily accessible, simple to use, quick to load (even with slower connections), and rich in content. This site will continue to reflect a well-informed, interactive United Methodist mission and ministry that, being online, can be shared by the entire "connected" world.
United Methodist churches on the Web: The GBGM hosts local United Methodist churches on a dedicated server, providing the churches with free websites. What began as a handful of churches on the GBGM server has grown to more than 7100 local churches, along with annual conferences, district offices, units of United Methodist Women and United Methodist Men, and United Methodist youth groups. GBGM staff members provide technical support and a useful newsletter to the users. The church sites will soon be linked with and integrated into the GBGM website.
Community networks: Today, nearly 50 percent of the homes in the United States have computers. In addition, schools, libraries, and community centers are building open computer facilities to give more people access to the web. Thus it is becoming viable for local communities to share information via a website. The technology allows for the streaming of audio and video messages as well as text and graphic images. It also provides a connection for people who are isolated from each other. Where low-power radio will not go (because of signal interference in major markets or the lack of an FCC license), a simple computer connected to a telephone can provide communication within a neighborhood or with the world. The McGannon School of Communications at Fordham University has conducted a study on the viability of local United Methodist churches becoming the hub of such community networks.
Global Mission Learning Centers: The GBGM is also working to find funding partners to provide computer technology in communities where the costs are prohibitive. In the United States, large technology corporations are putting such resources in select, usually heavily populated communities, ignoring the needs of rural areas and developing countries. By late 2001, the GBGM will have launched initial sites in at least three countries.
In addition to the learning and networking made possible by computers, streaming audio on the Internet can eventually provide the United Methodist connection with programming from around the world. As Dr. Nugent put it: "God has created a diversity which, in the communications context, must not be allowed to separate us or drive us apart, but rather be that which unites us and allows us to understand the complexities of God's creation.
"Christian communicators," he continued, "should think of communications as the engine for mission in our day: that which speaks with and for the justice long absent from many situations in which we are in mission. A task for communications is to anticipate—and to embody—what should be, and what shall be when the kingdom comes."
Sharon Maeda and staff members o discussing a new page for the GBGM website.
Text and photographs copyright 2001 by New World Outlook: The Mission Magazine of The United Methodist Church. Used by Permission. For reprint permission, contact New World Outlook by E-mail at nwo@gbgm-umc.org.