Christian TV Producer Coordinates Broadcasts During Tragedy
A Christian film producer's office becomes an unofficial "emergency coordination center."
Published Sep 13, 2001
During the horrific day of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a Christian television and film producer's office in Los Angeles became an unofficial "emergency coordination center" for Christian television and radio stations across America.
In light of the events and news reports, Phil Cooke initially sent out a single memo with important crisis programming suggestions to his media clients. A producer and director of some of the most successful Christian programs ever produced, Phil Cooke consults with numerous Christian television stations and networks across the country.
"While I was praying before work, I felt the need to send out an e-mail and fax with ideas and suggestions to Christian stations and networks on how to cover the terrorist incidents more effectively," said Cooke. "Within an hour from the first airline crash, I sent a memo to about 30 of our Christian clients and associates nationwide. In the past, Christian TV and radio stations have tended to ignore crisis events of this type because without expensive news divisions, they felt they couldn't do an adequate job. However, I pointed out that while we can't compete with ABC, CNN, FOX, and other news networks, we could offer far deeper content - spiritual information. In times like this we have the rare opportunity to offer a spiritual perspective with answers from the Bible about tragedies on this
scale."
His memo was straight to the point. It encouraged Christian TV and radio stations to interrupt their regularly scheduled programming and be on the air LIVE as soon as possible. He suggested contacting experts in prophecy, terrorism, the Middle East, and global issues. Especially important, Cooke recommended staying away from "pat" answers. The memo read, "Chances are, more non-Christians will be watching your broadcasts than ever before. So stay away from 'Christian lingo' they won't understand, and try to provide real answers to the real questions they are facing."
"After I sent the memo to our clients and friends, the National Religious Broadcasters (an industry trade group) then sent it to nearly every Christian radio and television station in the country, and that's when the phone calls and e-mails started."
The first call Cooke received was from Jerry Rose, with the Total Living Network in Chicago. "Jerry said he just received the fax and it was a remarkable coincidence. He was in a morning production meeting and had just made the decision to go on the air all day with live programming about the crisis."
Then Peter Sumrall of the LeSea Television and Radio Network called to report their coverage. Shortly after, Paul McDonald from Cornerstone Television, and then Rod Henke from Trinity Broadcasting sent an e-mail with their plans, and it snowballed from there.
"Major Christian stations and networks covering the event gave me their satellite transponder coordinates, and we began passing that information on through phone calls and e-mails to local stations across the country. I also forwarded it to Karl Stoll at the National Religious Broadcasters who posted the information on their website. Local stations who couldn't afford to do their own coverage, now had a national source to tap into via satellite."
Then, individual stations began calling and sending e-mails asking Cooke for production and programming advice. Some, shared their plans and ideas for the day, and Cooke and his assistant Jeanette Tostenson began relaying that to other stations, giving them new ideas and encouragement.
"In the past, Christian TV and radio stations have been slow to deal with immediate crisis issues like this. I've always been frustrated that while a national tragedy unfolds on all the secular networks, Christian stations tend to do "business as usual" and ignore these issues. But today, that completely changed. Today, we saw literally hundreds of Christian television and radio stations respond with answers, encouragement, and most of all, hope."
What started as a simple idea, in a matter of hours blossomed into a remarkable event for millions of television viewers and radio listeners who had the opportunity to hear a Christian perspective on the horrible events. The original memo from Phil Cooke literally began a life of it's own, and we should continue to see it's impact for weeks to come, as Christian programmers pass it around and use it's guidelines as they produce programs on the events in New York and Washington. By the end of the day, the memo even ended up on Christian news sites on the Internet.
Cooke stated, "If we're going to impact this culture for the gospel, we have to speak in a language and style they understand. Today, that happened on hundreds of Christian radio and television stations across the country, and I can't wait to hear the results."
In light of the events and news reports, Phil Cooke initially sent out a single memo with important crisis programming suggestions to his media clients. A producer and director of some of the most successful Christian programs ever produced, Phil Cooke consults with numerous Christian television stations and networks across the country.
"While I was praying before work, I felt the need to send out an e-mail and fax with ideas and suggestions to Christian stations and networks on how to cover the terrorist incidents more effectively," said Cooke. "Within an hour from the first airline crash, I sent a memo to about 30 of our Christian clients and associates nationwide. In the past, Christian TV and radio stations have tended to ignore crisis events of this type because without expensive news divisions, they felt they couldn't do an adequate job. However, I pointed out that while we can't compete with ABC, CNN, FOX, and other news networks, we could offer far deeper content - spiritual information. In times like this we have the rare opportunity to offer a spiritual perspective with answers from the Bible about tragedies on this
scale."
His memo was straight to the point. It encouraged Christian TV and radio stations to interrupt their regularly scheduled programming and be on the air LIVE as soon as possible. He suggested contacting experts in prophecy, terrorism, the Middle East, and global issues. Especially important, Cooke recommended staying away from "pat" answers. The memo read, "Chances are, more non-Christians will be watching your broadcasts than ever before. So stay away from 'Christian lingo' they won't understand, and try to provide real answers to the real questions they are facing."
"After I sent the memo to our clients and friends, the National Religious Broadcasters (an industry trade group) then sent it to nearly every Christian radio and television station in the country, and that's when the phone calls and e-mails started."
The first call Cooke received was from Jerry Rose, with the Total Living Network in Chicago. "Jerry said he just received the fax and it was a remarkable coincidence. He was in a morning production meeting and had just made the decision to go on the air all day with live programming about the crisis."
Then Peter Sumrall of the LeSea Television and Radio Network called to report their coverage. Shortly after, Paul McDonald from Cornerstone Television, and then Rod Henke from Trinity Broadcasting sent an e-mail with their plans, and it snowballed from there.
"Major Christian stations and networks covering the event gave me their satellite transponder coordinates, and we began passing that information on through phone calls and e-mails to local stations across the country. I also forwarded it to Karl Stoll at the National Religious Broadcasters who posted the information on their website. Local stations who couldn't afford to do their own coverage, now had a national source to tap into via satellite."
Then, individual stations began calling and sending e-mails asking Cooke for production and programming advice. Some, shared their plans and ideas for the day, and Cooke and his assistant Jeanette Tostenson began relaying that to other stations, giving them new ideas and encouragement.
"In the past, Christian TV and radio stations have been slow to deal with immediate crisis issues like this. I've always been frustrated that while a national tragedy unfolds on all the secular networks, Christian stations tend to do "business as usual" and ignore these issues. But today, that completely changed. Today, we saw literally hundreds of Christian television and radio stations respond with answers, encouragement, and most of all, hope."
What started as a simple idea, in a matter of hours blossomed into a remarkable event for millions of television viewers and radio listeners who had the opportunity to hear a Christian perspective on the horrible events. The original memo from Phil Cooke literally began a life of it's own, and we should continue to see it's impact for weeks to come, as Christian programmers pass it around and use it's guidelines as they produce programs on the events in New York and Washington. By the end of the day, the memo even ended up on Christian news sites on the Internet.
Cooke stated, "If we're going to impact this culture for the gospel, we have to speak in a language and style they understand. Today, that happened on hundreds of Christian radio and television stations across the country, and I can't wait to hear the results."
Originally published September 13, 2001.
