'News with a Christian twist'
India's overtly secular media is also heavily influenced by foreign organizations, which helps plant devout Christian journalists to serve their interests. An example of such a journalists is Jennifer Arul, who wields considerable clout as someonne with more than thirty years of experience as a broadcast journalist and media executive in Asia. She regularly visits evangelical educational institutions in the West to address students. When she visited Point Loma Nazarene University (USA), which calls itself ' one of the leading Christian universities in the country', the journalism students described the focus of her discussion as 'fighting against violence in th cast system and standing up for the rights of women and mistreated children'. She spoke of her campaign to educate 'her native India to the effects of dowry deaths that, according to her research, took the lives of twenty thousand Indian women' in one year alone. Arul told the students that her solution to dowry deaths was to bring Christianity to India, saying, 'I think that we should use our Christian faith to help people speak out and tell the truth'. It was noted that she always keeps her cross necklace visible when she reports. She explains: 'As a journalist, you can't remain uninvolved. If I can bring this little Christian twist to my story, I'll do it'.
What she avoids mentioning is that dowry deaths are evenly distributed across the Indian religions, including Indian Christianity. In fact, there are especially high levels of this crime in the predominately Christian state of Kerala. When this problem in their own communities was pointed out, church leaders were hesitant to forthrightly condemn the practice. Instead, the main church denominations in Kerala (the Syro-Malabar, Marthoma and Jacobite churches) asked their followers to merely 'reduce the wedding expenses', but did no condemn the dowry system. On the other hand, the head acharya of Kanchi, considered one of the most orthodox Hindu leaders of India, condemns dowry repeatedly as being against Indian culture and tradition. While dowry abuse and coercion was not a social phenomenon in pre-colonial India, it was practiced until modern times in Christian countries.
Gegrapha and Indian Christian Journalists
Gegrapha is a transnational para-church organization founded by David Aikman, a Christian fundamentalist fighting scientific evolution theory ho also declared that Christianity had made George Bush a better president. Gegrapha's official mission statement is a 'call to all journalists who are Christians - Protestants, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox - at all stages ot their career....'
Aikman elaborates :
in 1997, Aikman produced atrocity literature about India that was outright false. just before the 1999 General Elections in India, Jennifer Arul was featured prominently at the Gegrapha International Conference in England, and she said :
At another international meeting of Gegrapha, Arul spoke again about the role of a Christian journalist operating in a non-Christian environment. She referred to non-Christian Indian journalists as those 'who follow different paths', while praising the Christian journalist as someone who has the 'responsibility of telling the truth'. Criticizing the limits placed on evangelism in government media channels, she praised her ability to use private satellite channels to report exclusively on the problems of Hindu society. She advocated that the 'Christian journalist has to bring a perspective to every story', and said that she did not care about being 'accused of inciting violence and not promoting religious tolerance'. Before her applauding Western Christian sponsors, she made it clear that the Christian identity in her takes precedence over the journalist :
Gegrapha is a facilitator of Christian journalists who ground their professional work in personal faith and use their transnational connections. Stephen David is another strategically placed Gegrapha member who is the principal correspondent on political and current affairs for India Today, the country's largest news weekly. Such journalists now comprise a rapidly growing group across India's media, where they can act behind the scenes in framing the news. Yet, the impressions that are created internationally by John Dayal, Jennifer Arul and other high-profile indian Christian journalists, is that the Indian media is anti-Christian, that Hindus terrorize Christians, and hence foreign intervention is necessary for justice in India. This is music to the cars of their sponsors, who naturally, reach for the pocket book.
NOTE
Based in Chennai, she is the resident editor and bureau chief in South India for New Delhi Television Ltd., Jennifer Arul is also chief operating officer of an Indonesian news and information channel, Astro Awani, honored in its first year for best current affairs programme in Indonesia. (Bio-data of Jennifer Arul as presented in 'Journalism Through the Eyes of Faith' section of Bethel University : URL : http://www.bethel.edu/special-events/jtef/bios). In 2007, she launched a similar Astro service in Malaysia. According to ChennaiTVNews.com, Jennifer Arul has been made the managing editor of a new channel in association with 'The Hindu' newspaper. (ChennaiTVNews.com 2008)
(Excerpt taken from pages 360-362; for all original references kindly refer the book)
India's overtly secular media is also heavily influenced by foreign organizations, which helps plant devout Christian journalists to serve their interests. An example of such a journalists is Jennifer Arul, who wields considerable clout as someonne with more than thirty years of experience as a broadcast journalist and media executive in Asia. She regularly visits evangelical educational institutions in the West to address students. When she visited Point Loma Nazarene University (USA), which calls itself ' one of the leading Christian universities in the country', the journalism students described the focus of her discussion as 'fighting against violence in th cast system and standing up for the rights of women and mistreated children'. She spoke of her campaign to educate 'her native India to the effects of dowry deaths that, according to her research, took the lives of twenty thousand Indian women' in one year alone. Arul told the students that her solution to dowry deaths was to bring Christianity to India, saying, 'I think that we should use our Christian faith to help people speak out and tell the truth'. It was noted that she always keeps her cross necklace visible when she reports. She explains: 'As a journalist, you can't remain uninvolved. If I can bring this little Christian twist to my story, I'll do it'.
What she avoids mentioning is that dowry deaths are evenly distributed across the Indian religions, including Indian Christianity. In fact, there are especially high levels of this crime in the predominately Christian state of Kerala. When this problem in their own communities was pointed out, church leaders were hesitant to forthrightly condemn the practice. Instead, the main church denominations in Kerala (the Syro-Malabar, Marthoma and Jacobite churches) asked their followers to merely 'reduce the wedding expenses', but did no condemn the dowry system. On the other hand, the head acharya of Kanchi, considered one of the most orthodox Hindu leaders of India, condemns dowry repeatedly as being against Indian culture and tradition. While dowry abuse and coercion was not a social phenomenon in pre-colonial India, it was practiced until modern times in Christian countries.
Gegrapha and Indian Christian Journalists
Gegrapha is a transnational para-church organization founded by David Aikman, a Christian fundamentalist fighting scientific evolution theory ho also declared that Christianity had made George Bush a better president. Gegrapha's official mission statement is a 'call to all journalists who are Christians - Protestants, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox - at all stages ot their career....'
Aikman elaborates :
As journalists all over the world, many of us operate in cultures which either do not acknowledge truth to exist or are hostile to those who claim that it exists and can be known. In this climate, we need to remind ourselves that we serve a King [i.e. Jesus] who embodies both truth and justice, and who indeed is the truth (John 14 : 6).
in 1997, Aikman produced atrocity literature about India that was outright false. just before the 1999 General Elections in India, Jennifer Arul was featured prominently at the Gegrapha International Conference in England, and she said :
The burning of a missionary, the rape of nuns, the destruction of churches, the assault on a priest, are ominous signals to Christians of all denominations.... How many perpetrators against the Christian community in Indian have been brought to book? Commissions of inquiry are appointed but very little comes out of them. Action? Seldom! A true picture or a report objectively and dispassionately, to be correct and impartial. It is no wonder that those who try to do their Christian duty are branded as activists. Talking of activists, three days before I left Chennai I met John Dayal, the editor of the midday newspaper, based in Delhi. he has involved himself in the United Christian Council, which is currently involved in telling Christians about various anti-Christian activities around India, activities which, as a journalist, he obviously is privy to. We are due to have our general election during the month of September and the information he gave at that meeting was most valuable. I heard him and I also saw the reaction from the six hundred organisations that were represented.... Christian media persons like ourselves have to use the power we have to influence.
At another international meeting of Gegrapha, Arul spoke again about the role of a Christian journalist operating in a non-Christian environment. She referred to non-Christian Indian journalists as those 'who follow different paths', while praising the Christian journalist as someone who has the 'responsibility of telling the truth'. Criticizing the limits placed on evangelism in government media channels, she praised her ability to use private satellite channels to report exclusively on the problems of Hindu society. She advocated that the 'Christian journalist has to bring a perspective to every story', and said that she did not care about being 'accused of inciting violence and not promoting religious tolerance'. Before her applauding Western Christian sponsors, she made it clear that the Christian identity in her takes precedence over the journalist :
Do we believe we are journalists first and foremost and only then does the Christian label get tagged on? It's a tricky question and one that needs thinking about. As for me, I believe that being a Christian journalist puts me in a uniquely privileged position to bring the truth , as I see it, to my 375 millions viewers who are of course the public Square.
Gegrapha is a facilitator of Christian journalists who ground their professional work in personal faith and use their transnational connections. Stephen David is another strategically placed Gegrapha member who is the principal correspondent on political and current affairs for India Today, the country's largest news weekly. Such journalists now comprise a rapidly growing group across India's media, where they can act behind the scenes in framing the news. Yet, the impressions that are created internationally by John Dayal, Jennifer Arul and other high-profile indian Christian journalists, is that the Indian media is anti-Christian, that Hindus terrorize Christians, and hence foreign intervention is necessary for justice in India. This is music to the cars of their sponsors, who naturally, reach for the pocket book.
NOTE
Based in Chennai, she is the resident editor and bureau chief in South India for New Delhi Television Ltd., Jennifer Arul is also chief operating officer of an Indonesian news and information channel, Astro Awani, honored in its first year for best current affairs programme in Indonesia. (Bio-data of Jennifer Arul as presented in 'Journalism Through the Eyes of Faith' section of Bethel University : URL : http://www.bethel.edu/special-events/jtef/bios). In 2007, she launched a similar Astro service in Malaysia. According to ChennaiTVNews.com, Jennifer Arul has been made the managing editor of a new channel in association with 'The Hindu' newspaper. (ChennaiTVNews.com 2008)
(Excerpt taken from pages 360-362; for all original references kindly refer the book)
