"News, Truth and Entertainment"
by Laura Greanias

Fewer people than ever are reading newspapers.  News magazines increasingly rely on celebrity covers to sell copies. And almost one out of four Americans is getting news from talk radio or late night TV comedians.  That’s almost double what it was just four years ago.

Even “The Bachelorette” from the Fox network’s reality series says she wants to get into the act as a TV anchor.  And she’s getting offers.

So what’s a news executive to do?  Where can the newspapers, magazines and broadcast networks turn to for help?  To Jay Leno or David Letterman?  To Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern? 

Nope.  To you. 

That’s right.  You.  Called Christians who through prayer and supernatural powers can channel God’s prophetic voice.  Called Christians like you who can bring light and truth to the opinion pages, talk shows and web pages that the media desperately needs to feed an insatiable global audience.

And my purpose here tonight is to encourage Christians like you to pursue a career in media, to seek excellence and to serve others with your God-given gifts.

Let me repeat that:  to seek excellence in journalism and to serve others with your God-given gifts.

First, I want to encourage you as Christians in the media.

As called Christians, you know there’s only one power that can truly transform the human heart.  It’s not government.  It’s not business.  It’s not education.  It’s not even religion.  It’s the power that transformed your heart.  The power of the love of Jesus Christ. The love that conquers sin, wipes out shame, heals wounds and reconciles enemies.  The love that patches broken dreams and changes the world, one life at a time. 

And this radical message of that transforming love has been entrusted to you.  So in a very real way, the future of the world rests in your hands. 

On top of that, you’re in the news business. 

Not that the news business is more important than other industries, although it seems to impact our culture more.  It’s just that it’s practically devoid of Christians.  And often the Church has only itself to blame. 

How many times have you heard pastors accuse the media of stereotyping Christians? But how can newspaper and broadcast executives be expected to accurately portray Christian values if there aren’t any Christian reporters, editors, anchors or news executives?

Maybe your church rightly applauds young Christians going on short-term mission trips.  Somehow your internship in the local NBC newsroom didn’t elicit the same response.  But the bottom line is that newsrooms could benefit just as much from honest, hardworking and talented Christians like you.  And I want to commend you for recognizing the high calling you have.

But you better be good.  That’s why I also want to encourage you to seek excellence.

Most media players that I know are great people.  And almost all of them are consumed by their pursuit of success.   So inviting them to church or sharing the four spiritual laws with them isn’t going to get you far. 

The most probable way your colleagues are going to see Jesus is through you.  And your work is a reflection of who you are.  They really don’t care whether you’re a Christian, Buddhist or Raeylian, so long as you’re competent and take pride in your work.  That assumes, of course, you’re doing work you can be proud of. 

I started at the L.A. Times when I was 25, and in my enthusiasm I’ve made the mistake of recommending young Christians for positions only to learn they were not the journalists I thought they were.  They were the Christians I thought they were, but not the professionals they needed to be, and I had to endure the comments of my colleagues who interviewed them. 

So be excellent.  But remember, you don’t have to be the best to be at your best.  You’re not here to take over the media, but to penetrate it.  To be present.  To provide God’s alternatives to evil.  To demonstrate Christ’s relevance.  To be the best representative for Him and His church you can. 

And that brings me to the final part of my brief message:  I want to encourage you to help others with your God-given gifts.

Whatever unique combination of gifts God has given you, in the end HOW you use them may be more important than the gifts themselves.   And however you define your work, ultimately YOU are the message.  What kind of statement are you making?

The New York Times just ran a story about rudeness in Hollywood.  But it could just as easily apply to journalism, where tempers are short under deadline pressure. 

Far from being an isolated occurrence, displays of selfishly hostile behavior are increasingly common in Hollywood, and increasingly by small fry.  Once the sole province of box-office stars and a handful of well-known producers and agents, divalike behavior has filtered down — sometimes way down — the chain of command.  It is now the reflexive stance of personal assistants, who are obsequious to their bosses but aggressively disdainful toward others.  Of hair stylists to the stars, who show up an hour late for appointments with regular clients.  And of unemployed screenwriters, who cancel dinner plans with old friends because they are suddenly “busy.”

The prevailing etiquette, the New York Times concludes, “is all about reminding others that you are more important than they are.”  

Know anybody like that?  Know anybody like that better than you’d care to admit?

We’re all on a journey.  Not just a professional journey, but another, more profound journey, one that will ultimately lead you to stand before Jesus. 

And Jesus may not be as concerned as you are about how many people saw your story or how many Pulitzers you won. Instead he may ask:  “What did you do with the vision I gave you?  With the unique gifts I gave you?  And how did you treat people along the way?”

I know that when my husband, Tom, and I look back on our ten years in L.A. thus far, we’re humbled to see our greatest opportunities to serve Christ have not come through our work in journalism or in Hollywood so much as through the relationships our marriage and family have afforded us.  In fact, we’ve probably made more friends with media and entertainment leaders outside of our work than because of it.  Our children play with their children.  We value non-Christians for who they are as individuals and they value us for who we are.

So my prayer for you is to have the courage to be yourselves.  To let your inward selves shine through in your outward selves, rather than try to be like the crowd.  To live in the real world and enjoy it, but not be of the world and consumed by it.

In such ways, both big and small, together we can bring the transforming power of Christ’s love wherever we go, and through our work and our lives shape the world’s reality.

Thanks for inviting me here this evening.  It’s been a pleasure.

Bio:
 

Ever since the first grade, Laura Greanias knew she wanted to be a journalist.  By fifth grade, Laura was writing for the children’s page in what is now the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. In high school, Laura was the managing editor of the student newspaper, and by her college years at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Laura knew she wanted to be a newspaper editor.  Shortly after her marriage, Laura and her husband, Tom, felt compelled to move to Southern California in order to make a positive difference in the media and entertainment industries.  Armed with her gift for editing and a tenacious spirit, Laura eventually landed a job offer on the Foreign Desk with the Los Angeles Times, where she also served The Times as foreign news editor, executive news editor, and deputy night editor, sharing responsibility for the front page.