PBAU’s Clark speaks at national journalism conference

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)– "Set the Standard" was the theme around which 150 students and faculty gathered for the third annual Baptist Press National Student Journalism Conference Oct. 9-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

Conference workshops focused on news and feature writing, photography, broadcasting, graphic design, yearbook design and public relations. The students also participated in worship led by Christian recording artist Jason Morant and heard keynote addresses from such Christians in the media as David Clark, Rudy Kalis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty and Eric Metaxas.

The conference’s "Set the Standard" theme at the Southern Baptist Convention Building in Nashville encouraged students to be exemplary both in their journalism and their Christian witness.

Will Hall, BP executive editor and Executive Committee vice president for news services, said through skill building sessions and fellowship times, leaders were "able to translate ‘Set the Standard’ from merely a theme into a vocational and spiritual charge that our participants, both student and professional journalists alike, could – and did – embrace."

Among the conference speakers was David Clark, president of Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, and former president of FamilyNet television. He told students Christian journalists have a powerful opportunity to impact culture with the message of Christ.

Media sets the agenda of what Americans think about, Clark said. Thus, Christian journalists can draw the public’s attention to issues that are important to God.

"When we talk about being a witness and a believer, it may not always mean that you can give the ‘Four Spiritual Laws’ in the context of what you’re writing or what you’re doing," he said. "But you’re still a witness. ... God has called us to declare His glory, not just by what we say but how we live and by the way you practice our profession."

One way Christian journalists can glorify God is to point out violations of God’s standards in culture and encourage citizens to address those violations, Clark said. He warned though, that such work often proves difficult.

"There are going to be moments in your life where you’re going to say, ‘Lord, where are You? What am I doing? Help! But it’s at those moments of need, of vulnerability, of fear that we will receive power ... and we will be witnesses," he said.

The function of a Christian journalist, Clark concluded, is not to succeed but to serve. "We need men and women who are out to bring God’s truth to bear on a world that desperately needs God’s truth."

More than 80 awards were presented to students in the Baptist Press Excellence in Journalism Contest.