November 3, 2022

New Bill Proposes that Broadcasters Be Investigators, Too

A new bill introduced last month could bulk up the burden on broadcasters to verify whether any programming on their stations was paid for or provided by a foreign government entity.

The “Identifying Propaganda on Our Airwaves” (IPA) Act (S. 4713/H.R. 9180) debuted on October 17, led by Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) in the Senate and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) in the House. 

When broadcasters lease airtime to programming clients or renew such agreements, they must provide certain information to the FCC, including whether any content is sponsored or controlled by a foreign government. The IPA Act would authorize the FCC to specify additional sources that licensees must consult when performing these background checks. It would become the responsibility of stations to not only make inquiries of content vendors, but independently investigate by searching government databases plus any other information source that the FCC deems appropriate. This would add another hurdle to broadcasters’ already considerable regulatory compliance workload: conducting background checks on potentially dozens or hundreds of programmers to verify they are not foreign propaganda operations.

This law would have an especially burdensome impact on Christian broadcasters. Religious broadcasters work with local churches and Christian ministries to air sermons, worship services, and other programming to share the Gospel in their markets. Due to how Christian stations are programmed and their unique degree of collaboration with local churches and ministries, the number of brokered programming clients is often abundant compared to that of an ordinary broadcaster.

Salem Media to Host Coast-to-Coast Midterm Election Day Coverage

With the upcoming national midterm elections just days away, Salem Radio Network (SRN), in partnership with Salem News Channel (SNC), will host an Election Day coverage marathon, “Decision 2022.” The marathon will air from 7:00 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, November 8, until 2:00 a.m. Thursday, November 9.

“Decision 2022” will track live election results in races across the nation and will also include all major acceptance and concession speeches in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections. Salem teams will be stationed across the country with Mike Gallagher in The Upstate, South Carolina; Brandon Tatum in Phoenix, Arizona; Jennifer Horn in Los Angeles, California; Mark Davis in Dallas, Texas; Amy Jacobson in Chicago, Illinois; Joe Piscopo in New York, New York; Carl Jackson in Orlando, Florida; and other SNC, SRN News, and Townhall News personalities.

“This promises to be quite very possibly the most historic Midterm election and it will offer our audiences the first ever live broadcast partnership between our ground-breaking Salem News Channel and the Salem Radio Network nationwide,” said Tom Tradup, SRN vice president of News & Talk Programming.

Gingrich Addresses Christian Leaders on Defeating the Left’s Transgender Agenda Toward Children

On Tuesday, November 1, Christian leaders heard from The Honorable Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in an exclusive call hosted jointly by NRB and Summit Ministries. The webinar revealed brand-new data on Americans’ views toward the transgender agenda with insight for Christian leaders and communicators.

“Everywhere we look in politics and culture, we see attacks on human dignity, human design, and the integrity of the family,” said NRB President & CEO Troy A. Miller in opening remarks. “As citizens, we should not sit back when influential leaders attempt to confuse, coerce, or even normalize the mutilation of children in the service of debased and harmful gender ideology.”

NRB President & CEO Troy A. Miller Joins Real America’s Voice and NTD News

On Tuesday, NRB President & CEO Troy A. Miller joined Steve Gruber on Real America’s Voice to discuss government collusion with Big Tech, intrusion on free speech, and the chilling effect of censorship on the free exchange of ideas.

Miller spoke on the direct violation of the first amendment stating, “They’re [the government] trying to do by proxy what the Constitution tells them they can’t do. They are coming in the back door to limit free speech and to stop people from having open dialogues on conversations that they don’t like. Conversations that are important to you and I and important to evangelicals in this country.”  

“We believe, at NRB, people should have the right to have all the information in front of them and make the decisions they want. The right of a clear conscience is one of the key principles taught in the Scriptures.”

Watch the full Real America’s Voice interview here.

Miller also appeared on NTD News to discuss Twitter’s recent taking down of six "inauthentic" networks with links to China and Iran that reportedly posted tweets about issues regarding the upcoming midterm elections.

“We know this has been reported on for a long time, that there has been foreign interference in the election,” said Miller. “To see Twitter take this proactive step to shut these networks down and curve this kind of influence is good.”

Watch the full NTD Interview here.

Renaissance Communications Celebrates 30 Years

NRB congratulates Renaissance Communications, a member since 1993, on its thirtieth anniversary!

Founded in 1992 by Joe Battaglia, Renaissance’s mission is to help media platforms and communicators strategically “expand their presence and message in both Christian and mass media.” With an extensive background in leadership, management, programming, sales, and promotion, Renaissance serves clients in the Christian music, publishing, radio, and retail industries. 

In Memoriam: Steve Douglass

On Saturday, October 29, Steve Douglass, 77, president emeritus of Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) and Campus Crusade International, went to be with the Lord after a longtime battle with cancer.

After earning degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School, Douglass joined the Cru staff in 1969, serving in multiple roles over the years, including director of planned giving, vice president of administration, U.S. director, U.S. campus director, and global executive director, spending over 50 years in total with the ministry. In 2001, Douglass assumed the office of president of Cru, following in the footsteps of founder Bill Bright. After serving for nineteen years as president of the ministry, Douglass stepped down in 2020 due to health concerns.

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