The Miracle Channel – media, money and ethics

After the report in the post below on The Miracle Channel and it’s fundraising techniques was broadcast, the CBC did a follow up in February 2007. Other media outlets also picked up the story.

As we know The Miracle Channel was opposed in it’s expansion. The CRTC puts most of licencing and amendment documentation online.

The Miracle Channel did get an order from the CRTC to clean up it’s act. In a letter to CJIL in January 2006 the CRTC requested that:

Staff Determinations

In light of the above, CJIL-TV is required to report to the Commission, within two (2) months of the date of this letter, on the specific actions it has taken to ensure that similar inconsistencies with the Guidelines on Ethics for Religious Programming, as set out in the Religious Policy, do not recur.

Such action should include mechanisms to ensure that all producers, on-air staff and guests are made aware of the provisions of the Religious Policy prior to the production and broadcast of any fund-raising programming.

Commission staff notes that the Commission may, pursuant to Part IV of the Religious Policy, impose the Guidelines on Ethics for Religious Programming as a condition of licence, particularly if it received complaints concerning a licensee’s religious programs.

This correspondence, including CJIL-TV’s guidelines on its fundraising activities once submitted, will be placed on CJIL-TV’s public examination files for review at the time of licence renewal.

The Miracle Channel is up for licence renewal in August 2011. As most people know The Miracle Channel did not get the licence to broadcast in Alberta, the licence for Edmonton and Calgary was given to Crossroads Television Systems and that has become a whole other story. The CTS licence is also up for renewal in August 2011. CRTC decision 2007-167:

18. Accordingly, the Commission approves the applications by Crossroads Television System for broadcasting licences to operate English-language religious television programming undertakings to serve Calgary and Edmonton. The terms and conditions of licence for the new undertakings are set out in the appendix to this decision.

19. For all of the reasons set out above, the Commission considers that Crossroads’ proposal best meets the objectives of the Religious Policy and the Act, by providing for religious programming including original local content that will respond to the diverse needs and interests of viewers in the Calgary and Edmonton markets. The Commission also notes that The Miracle Channel is currently available through direct-to-home satellite providers in both Calgary and Edmonton.

20. In light of all of the above, the Commission denies the applications by The Miracle Channel Association for broadcasting licences to operate English-language transitional digital religious television programming undertakings to rebroadcast the programming of CJIL-TV Lethbridge in Edmonton and Calgary.

The language of regulation can be quite arcane, and learning how to speak for vulnerable viewers when ethical guidelines aren’t met is not for the faint of heart. Many people may be uneasy and assume someone else is going to speak up.  Most viewers will never read a CRTC document, and wouldn’t think through how TV is impacting their choices. As a result of the efforts of a few viewers to see ethical practises in religious broadcasting in Canada, The Miracle Channel did put up a fund-raising policy. There are 10 guidelines which anyone broadcasting on the channel must adhere to. As well, viewers have been given rights:

Donors to the Miracle Channel Association have the right to:
1. Know how the funds of the organization are being spent.
2. Know what the programs they support are accomplishing
3. Know that the organization is in compliance with federal, provincial, and municipal laws.
4. Restrict or designate their gifts to a particular project.
5. A response to their inquiries about finances and programs.
6. Visit offices and program sites of the organization to talk personally with the staff responsible for fundraising.
7. Not be high-pressured into giving to the organization.
8. Know that the organization is well managed.
9. Know that there is a responsible governing board and who those board members are.
10. Know that all appeals for funds are truthful and accurate.
11. Be made aware of the spiritual rewards of giving.
12. Have their names removed from the organization’s mailing list upon request.

So, how do you think that is working out?
As The Miracle Channel starts another fund raiser tomorrow, the new CEO Leon Fontaine, had already started his pitch.

This fund raiser is going to be a doozy in terms of some of the pitchmen. As the channel fights for donor dollars, for the first time, NAR apostle James Goll is part of the fundraising lineup. I question the wisdom of that decision, it is The Miracle Channel’s to make, and for informed viewers to evaluate.

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is something traditional media doesn’t know how to talk about or evaluate. Most Christians have difficulty pinning down what this far flung movement is all about and why warnings are being sounded. Here is some Sunday reading for you. US Religious researcher Rachel Tabachnick explains why media doesn’t get it.