The social relevance of Church-owned radio
Another revolution
Lucas says, “The radio stations were built not to earn — far from it — but first and foremost, to serve.” In reality, however, this presents a paradox: Church-owned radio stations need to earn to be able to serve, and yet, it may be this very service that keeps them from earning.
The greater paradox, however, is that an institution as old as the Church and using a medium as outdated as AM radio needs a fresh, young audience to survive. Catholic radio, once at the forefront of the People Power Revolution, is now in the middle of a different kind of revolution — one in which the Church must adapt to the changing times, or lose its audience to newer, more dynamic forms of media.
“Iba na kasi ang tao ngayon, eh (People nowadays are different,” DYVW’s Cabueñas says. “If Cardinal Rosales were to appeal to the people through Veritas, the message would not get through. Not like before.”
If Church-owned radio stations succeed, it will prove that community-based broadcasting can be commercially viable. More important, it will have gone that much further in spreading the Good News. If it fails, however, the Catholic Church shall have failed.
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Isabel L. Templo is a freelance journalist based in Quezon City who writes on women and development for Women’s Feature Service, and on business and social enterprise for Manila Bulletin‘s Business Agenda section. She has a master’s in journalism from the Ateneo de Manila University.
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