Advice needed - Campus Newspaper

[mahalia]

hi all
apologies if this is a bit random, i'll try to keep it brief (apologies also for the lack of capitalization - it's been a long day and i have a pharmacology book calling my name).

warning: this post requests christian advice - if you're not christian, you might not agree with this post, but there's little i can do about that right now. that doesn't mean you can't respond though

anyways
1. i've just recently come back to God. it's really been tought but i don't regret it.
2. i was named editor in chief for my campus newpaper a couple of days ago (it's one of the best campus newspapers in the southern hemisphere, i'm told)

sooo obviously i'm happy (about both), but when my cell leader heard she gave the congratulations and also said "this is really somewhere that you can glorify God's name"

having been away from God for the past couple of years, and also bearing in mind that our campus has members of many different religions, my question is this: in which way can i use this to glorify His name?

i do want to, i just want to know how - keeping in mind the manner in which newspapers function and so on.

any insight would be much appreciated
thanks

 

[Riddik7]

Well you could add a column for featuring good clean music... it's surprising how many people want good clean music but can't find it... well bein a christian it shouldn't be to hard to have a good start as there are alot of christian bands that you could list that even non-christians enjoy just as easily.... you could do a review/info thing about each band you list each week in the column...

 

[SeekTruth4Glory]

Honestly, I don't think a campus newspaper is the place for personal opinions. When I turn to any source of news, I expect a fair, factual representation of whatever the reporter is telling me, not an expression of his or her religious ideology.

There are plenty of other ways to do God's work on a college campus:

-Start a Bible study group.
-Pool together with some friends to get a Christian speaker to speak at your school.
-Give out free bibles (preferrably NLT, since KJV is a bit hard to swallow).
-Give out other christian literature, again, for free (I'd suggest handing out Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis).
-There's a website called Relevant Revolution with a lot of good Christian audio tracks free for download. You can buy about twenty blank cd's for ten or fifteen dollars, download some tracks, and pass those out as well.

What I would suggest is keeping an eye out for any other unfair biases you find in the paper.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Daughter of God]

You can use the newspaper to encourage people. Feature stories, testimonies of youths who have been struggling too, but have found it back to God, just like you have.

 

[hopeinGod]

As a former university newspaper reporter and columnist, I wrote the usual stuff one would find in similar publications. The character and attitude I displayed to the people I interviewed, especially for feature articles, was my best witness. For a secular newspaper, I would suggest you stray from taking extraordinary measures to present the gospel.

Times that may suit its presentation, or at least a message regarding Christianity, are during the most well known Christian holidays. But keep it simple. Don't get preachy; instead, write in a column about how you felt during your last Christ-centered holiday, what it meant to you to be around family (being family supportive is very right wing/Christian), and how important your faith is to you.

Over the years, I've written for three daily newspapers and two weeklies, and with each one, I did my best to represent all of the local community, not just believers, in the articles I wrote -- except, on occasion, when I refused to listen to the chronic loud mouths who attended civic meetings.

Today, I write for a national industrial magazine, where there is absolutely no room for delivering the Christian message.

I wish you well, and remind you to save your writing to use as samples if you choose to become a journalist. Unfortunately, newspapers seem to be on their way out, so you may want to minor in broadcasting. Numerous magazines, too, have gone under since the birth of the Computer Age.

Dave