A commitment in Togo to training journalists from evangelical radio stations in French-speaking Africa and the 20th anniversary of the program Hautes Fréquences on RTS La Première provide Serge Carrel with an opportunity to show that, in both situations, evangelical journalism requires boldness and professionalism.

Reprint of Serge Carrel's "Opinion" published on January 25, 2019, onlafree.info

In our daily lives, there are collisions of experiences that make us reflect on our practice. Last week, I was one of the facilitators at the Training Seminar for Evangelical Radio Stations in French-speaking Africa in Lomé, Togo, a gathering of more than a hundred people organized by Radio Réveil in Bevaix (NE). It was an opportunity to meet journalists, presenters, and technicians from the hundred or so radio stations that define themselves as evangelical in French-speaking Africa. Last Sunday evening, RTS Religion marked the 20th anniversary of Hautes Fréquences, the flagship program of the public service radio's religious programming team, on La Première at 7 p.m.

In French-speaking Africa as in Switzerland, what presence?

In both situations, there is an opportunity to question the presence of evangelical journalists in the public sphere. In French-speaking Africa, evangelical religious radio stations are on the rise. Their programming focuses heavily on preaching the Gospel, reporting on churches, and Christian music. They play an important role within the Church or churches, but also in the public sphere, encouraging the emergence of a common identity and reflection on the major issues of the day. In French-speaking Switzerland, due to the ecumenical and interfaith commitment of the religious programming team and the decline in the legitimacy of the Christian voice within society, RTS Religion's stance leans more toward religious sociology than a Christian view of society. Proof of this can be seen on Sunday evenings with the presence of sociologist Philippe Gonzalez, a specialist in media and religion, rather than a Christian theologian particularly skilled in positioning the Christian faith in a pluralistic context.

Professionalism and boldness more than ever on the agenda

In this collision of diametrically opposed experiences, there is a convergence. On the one hand, African evangelical radio stations are seeking to develop a public discourse that allows them to move away from an exclusively church-centered approach and reach as many listeners as possible, notably by limiting "Jesus" to 30 percent of their programming and giving significant space to development issues and a holistic and integral Gospel (see the Lomé Declaration and the interview with Alphonse Teyabe). On the Swiss side, churches promote—since journalists are employed by the churches and production costs are paid by RTS—a discourse that analyzes religion from Christian perspectives and values, a discourse legitimized by the history of French-speaking Switzerland and by a society that seeks to understand religion without developing any affiliation with any particular denomination.

In these two very different contexts, evangelical journalism has its place. In French-speaking Africa as in Switzerland, it requires professionalism and boldness. It is a matter of breaking out of the well-trodden paths of weak and unarticulated convictions, in order to seek and express a view of the world marked by the values and hope that Christ brings to the heart of our lives. In both cases, this is a real "challenge," as we say today!

Serge Carrel
Journalist in charge of lafree.info
Former journalist at Radio Réveil and on the program Hautes Fréquences on RTS Religion