Resourcing Christians for Media Awareness and Critique

We would like to introduce a number of helpful media awareness resources to the international Lausanne community, and to other interested readers. This is one of the three main dimensions of media engagement on which this site focuses.

This is related to the following emphasis in The Cape Town Commitment:

[We need] to help people develop a more critical awareness of the messages they receive, and of the worldview behind them. The media can be neutral, and sometimes gospel friendly. But they are also used for pornography, violence and greed. We encourage pastors and churches to face these issues openly and to provide teaching and guidance for believers in resisting such pressures and temptations.

We are still in the early days of this site, and there are many more resources to be produced. So far they include resources which help Christians to critically engage with the following key aspects of the media:

Television

• 12 Questions to Ask When Watching the News – Lars Dahle
• 17 Questions to Ask When Watching a Documentary – Lars Dahle and Philip Lindholm
• 17 Questions to Ask About Soap Operas and TV Series – Ingvild Thu Kro
• 21 Questions to Ask About Commercials – Eivind Algrøy

Film

• 2o Questions to Ask When Watching a Film – Tony Watkins
• 17 Questions to Ask When Watching a Documentary – Lars Dahle and Philip Lindholm

Books

• 20 Questions to Ask About a Novel – Mark Meynell
• 15 Questions to Ask About Popular History – by Mark Meynell
• 8 Questions to Ask About Comics – by Bjørn-Are Davidsen

Music

• 12 Questions to Ask About Music Albums – by Mark Meynell

Social Media

• 10 Questions for Exploring the Implications of Social Media – by Krish Kandiah

These insightful and practical resources are ideal for using individually, in families, churches, schools and other educational institutions.

About the Author

Lars Dahle

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Lars is the Lausanne Catalyst for Media Engagement, as well as being a member of the Lausanne Communications Working Group. He is Associate Professor in Systematic Theology at Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communication, NLA University College (Norway). He lives in Kristiansand, Norway, and is married to Margunn Serigstad Dahle, who is Associate Professor in Communications and Worldviews at NLA Gimlekollen. See all Lars’s articles on EngagingMedia.info.

About the Author

Tony Watkins

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Tony is the Network Co-ordinator for the Lausanne Media Engagement Network. He helps Christian leaders in relating media and the Bible (especially the prophets) through his work as a speaker and writer. Tony works partly in association with Damaris Norway, but lives in the UK. See all Tony’s articles on EngagingMedia.info.