Editorial: Is the Crown a Christian News Source?

What is Christian journalism? This is the question that we, The Crown, will be seeking to answer in the coming year.

In the last few years, I have had the incredible opportunity to work under amazing editors. I’ve seen The Crown develop into a newspaper that I am proud to work for. I’ve heard the visions of these two editors and seen these visions put in print. The Crown is not a newspaper that prints petty controversy for its own sake. It is a publication that has become recognized on a national scale through its membership with the Canadian University Press. There is greater interest and there are louder voices. But with all of this success, there is also greater responsibility. I’ve experienced the tensions involved in producing a paper that, while being accountable to Student Senate and Redeemer’s administration, must still seek to reveal truth. I’ve had to ask myself what it means to be a publication that is inherently Christian. How does one do a Christian newspaper well? What is Christian journalism, really?

Is it producing articles that apply Christian morals to politically and ethically unsound issues? Is it writing nice letters to pronounce appreciation for your school? Is it giving all the facts in an unbiased way and then slapping on a “Jesus would agree because” or “Jesus would disagree because” at the end?

You see, Redeemer, what I’m realizing is that Christian journalism isn’t necessarily about plopping religion on the end of an article. Christian journalism is about integrity ie., honesty and honourable principles obvious in articles and business practices. It is less about worldview than it is about factual truth (and no, they are not the same thing).

In the same way that we can’t come to Christian education expecting everything to be sugar-coated, we can’t expect a Christian news source to sap up the news for the sake of agreeability. We can’t expect everyone to have the same worldview (even within a Christian circle), and to agree with our version of truth. Yet, 1+1=2 no matter which lens you’re looking through. A number is a number, a fact is a fact. It is how we present those facts, and how we interact with them that defines responsible Christian journalism. You may not always agree with our writers. You may not always like the stories we publish. But I can guarantee you that there will be a fact where facts belong, and there will be opinion where opinions belong.

A Christian news publication should operate with integrity. A Christian news publication should present news stories as they are; there is no need to tell Jesus what he thinks about a specific topic. Christian journalism is required to write content that glorifies our LORD. Go ahead, nod your head. But that doesn’t mean what you may think. Content isn’t always about the stories, often it revolves more around the manner in which those stories are presented. A Christian journalist struggles with presenting ideas clearly and respectfully, yet he/she must acknowledge that no story is off limits. Yes, our world is broken. Yes, the devil has his dirty hands all over God’s creation. Yes, we are called to do something about it.

It is the calling of a Christian news source to shine light on dark places in the hope that we can “learn to do right; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17 NIV)? Yes, but it doesn’t stop there. Christian journalists (in fact, all Christians), should constantly be putting forward everything they are for the glory of God, and they should do it in love.

So how does this exhibit itself in The Crown? Too often I feel that The Crown has been stigmatized by students, staff and faculty, who see it as a publication that is happy-go-lucky-but-not-to-be-taken-too-seriously. Even more often, I feel that The Crown itself is at fault for this attitude. Well, The Crown is taking itself seriously. It must. If it doesn’t, how can it be a publication that points to our Father in Heaven?

God does not call us to be a people of inaction. He calls us to be in the world. He does not call us to stick ourselves in a bubble and ignore the broader community to which we belong. While we were interviewing students for positions on The Crown staff, someone asked me how including local, national, and world news is relevant to Redeemer’s students. The Crown is responsible to bring all news, not just campus events, into our bubble, with the intention to raise awareness of the community beyond our institution's welcome signs.

The Crown will continue to publish articles that are campus-oriented. It will also publish articles that break down Redeemer’s walls, that call us to fulfill our callings as God’s people. The Crown is changing what it publishes, and developing a layout and business model that reflect professionalism and integrity. We will bring you movie and music reviews (see Arts and Features), sports articles, and stories that challenge you as Christian readers to see beyond sin and death to gaze into the promise of life Christ has already given us (check out our articles about Dr. Onzuka, Middle East Uprisings, Amsterdam YWAM reflections, etc.). The rest is up to you. We will not bring you a news source that is sugar-coated, but rather salty and full of light.

The Crown reserves the right to edit or remove any comment that:

• is libelous, threatening, obscene, or constitutes hate speech
• directly and deliberately insults other posters
• is promotional or commercial in nature