Aid to the Church in Need: The Christian TV channel Sat 7 highly regarded in the Middle East

The Christian TV channel Sat 7 highly regarded in the Middle East

Posted by ACN News on 2/11/2009, 10:07 am
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ACN News: Monday, 2nd November 2009 – Middle East

The Christian TV channel Sat7 highly regarded in the Middle East

From Casablanca to Kabul – reconciliation through information

By Rheinard Backes

The facts are clear enough – in the year 1900 around 20% of the population of the Middle East and North Africa professed the Christian Faith, as followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Today the percentage of Christians stands at just 4% or so – and still falling. Many people in the region are feeling oppressed by a social climate that is increasingly intolerant of those of non-Muslim faith.

There are three reasons for this: widespread social injustice that strengthens the hand of political extremists, so that they can easily stir up people's fears; mistrust among many Muslims towards Western political policies and simultaneously towards their own Christian fellow countrymen; widespread ignorance about Christians and the Christian Faith, with resulting widespread prejudice and misconceptions.

Just some of the reasons why, in the mid-1990s the TV station Sat7 (sat7.org) was established. It is a Christian TV station for North Africa and the Middle East and its headquarters is in Nicosia in Cyprus. This satellite TV transmitter has been broadcasting since 1996 – broadcasting for Christians, but at the same time above all about Christians and their Faith. For in the overwhelmingly Muslim countries of this region, with their total population of around 200 million souls and around 300 TV stations, Sat7 is seeking especially to reach out to non-Christians also, so as to inform them about the Christian Faith and explain its values coherently to them. It is an approach that has been well received among Muslims in particular.

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Sat7 is run by the Christian Churches of the Middle East and North Africa. In 2008 its income was just about $12 million; however expenditure was somewhat higher than this. The gap is generally plugged above all by donations, three quarters of it by Christians in the United States and Europe. The international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) also regularly supports Sat7.

Since satellite TV broadcasting is already widespread in this region, any broadcaster who wishes to reach the wider millions of the public will likewise adopt this technology. The Internet is no alternative. "In the Arab world only about 11% of the people have access to the Internet, which is usually very slow and unsuited to downloading videos. Moreover, unwanted pages are generally blocked in any case", explains American-born Terence Ascott, the founder and programme director of Sat7, who has been living and working in the Middle East for over 30 years.

Sat7 makes use of the HotBird satellite system and can consequently also be received in Europe. It now broadcasts 24 hours a day on four channels in three main languages – Arabic, Farsi (Persian) and Turkish. It broadcasts talkshows on everyday issues and on questions of faith, has interviews with experts and contributions explaining the Christian Faith. There are also religious services, plus magazine programmes and game shows. Especially popular, Sat7 reports, are the documentaries, or "dramas" which retell the biblical stories, thus fitting in nicely with a widespread tradition in the Middle East, that of storytelling.

Current events form a part of the general reporting, for example the visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Jordan and Israel in May 2009. And for children and young people, an age-group that includes many frequent listeners to the programme, there is their own special channel, “Sat7 Kids”, which has been broadcasting since December 2007. It includes children's shows, general knowledge and entertainment programmes and reportage from around the Arab world.

Sat7 does not touch on political topics and avoids any criticism of existing conditions in the Arab world. Criticism and comment regarding the religious convictions of other faiths are likewise taboo. In regard to potentially controversial topics, such as the role of women, issues of sexuality, drug abuse or AIDS, the moderators and editors are under a strict obligation to report with sensitivity and restraint.

Dishes filled with spiritual food. The technology of the Good News (SAT-7)

This approach has brought the station a notable reputation and made it generally favourably viewed by the authorities. A factor that may well also have contributed to this is that Sat7 produces almost 80% of its programmes in the Middle East itself, and also maintains studios in Egypt and Lebanon. Two thirds of its 170 staff come from the countries of the region. Needless to say, however, none of all this represents an absolute guarantee of protection, since for many this Christian station is nevertheless a thorn in the side – especially since Sat7 currently has an audience of millions. It is true that reliable studies have been undertaken in only a few countries into the actual take-up of the TV channel in the target area, but the number of those contacting the station is still growing – an important indicator.

For the programme makers, the telephone calls, letters, text messages and e-mails from viewers are a basic indicator of the level of acceptance of the programmes. Says Terence Ascott: "In 2008 we had a massive increase in viewer responses on all our channels." Around 25,000 people contacted the Sat7 staff with questions, criticisms or suggestions about the programmes. This "service to the viewers" is an indispensable part of the work of the station and in consequence its 2008 annual report has raised the need for additional staff and "new strategies for this important part of the missionary work", in order to "make sure that those who turn to us for advice or help can be given a personal response much more quickly".

Many viewers present the station's editors with their particular cares and concerns. However many simply want to thank Sat7 and promise to pray for its work. And there is one request that the station addresses each year to its viewers – to pray on one particular day with and for the Christians in the Middle East. This day is the 1st of November, All Saints Day.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 130 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 46.5 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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