Nearly 30 years ago, Fred Jackson, a veteran news broadcaster from the secular arena of Canadian Public Broadcasting in Vancouver, British Columbia, joined the AFA staff as director of the news department, now American Family News (AFN).
“What I saw in public broadcasting in Canada, where I worked for almost 20 years [prior], was the change in values,” Jackson told The Stand. “When I first got involved with secular news, it was very strict. You weren’t allowed to share your opinion. But, over time, the leader in that news service said, ‘Now we believe you should express your point of view,’ but they only wanted people working for them who held a very liberal point of view.
“At the same time, the Lord was moving in my heart to take what I had learned in secular broadcasting and bring it into a Christian environment.”
As Jackson was becoming uncomfortable in the overtly hostile field of secular journalism, a small-town preacher-turned-activist by the name of Don Wildmon was searching for a method to bring his culture-battling ministry beyond local avenues and to audiences nationwide. While Wildmon gained recognition and some notoriety on secular networks, he discerned that his message would be more powerful if it could be received directly by its intended audience rather than being distorted by secular reflections.
“Wildmon drew a lot of attention because of taking a stand for things, and he became well-known on the networks,” Jackson explained. “But with time, he realized the mainstream media was going to be hostile to his message. To get his message out, he had to answer the need for Christians to have a news service that had Christian values as its basis.”
In 1996, God-given personal connections brought together the veteran news broadcaster and the start-up newsmaker from across far-flung corners of the continent – answering their joint desire to transform news reporting and reach Christians on a national scale.
Solid Rock standard
While the approach of mainstream news has changed greatly over the years, AFN has maintained a bedrock foundation on God’s truth drawn from Holy Scripture.
“We have a standard based upon God’s Word – a God Who doesn’t change,” Jackson said. “We report accurately what people are saying, but we’re always going to measure what people say up against Scripture. When it comes to what we believe, we’re never going to apologize for saying our litmus test of truth is Scripture.”
While Jackson noticed a shift in the approach of journalism more than 20 years ago, the viciousness of news reporting over the past decade has exposed to everyone the allegiances and agenda of the mainstream media. Journalism students were once taught to never opinionate in a news piece but to report just the facts. That code has been thrown by the wayside in favor of the opportunity to metastasize the opinions and policies of the Democratic Party – turning secular news media essentially into a monolithic propaganda machine.
“It doesn’t take too long – if you read The Associated Press, The New York Times, if you listen to NBC or CNN – you very quickly realize they are down on one party, and they are all-in on another party,” Jackson clarified. “The mainstream media networks are promoters and proponents of the Democratic Party and its values. And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out when you listen to their newscasts and read their stories.”
The need for Christian news
While mainstream media leaves a huge deficit when it comes to reporting the news accurately, it seems alternate sources of news – particularly radio news – from a Christian perspective have dwindled over the years, as many Christian stations have closed or decided not to run their own news broadcasts.
“The availability of other sources of radio Christian news has somewhat diminished,” Jackson said. “Meanwhile, the level of trust in the mainstream media has dropped because they have lost the trust of viewers.”
While other stations are shutting their doors, and frustrated conservative listeners are switching off secular media in their homes and cars, AFN is broadcasting all over the country. In addition to the 165 radio stations owned by AFA, AFN is now aired on approximately 100 affiliate stations.
“We have found that AFN is in demand from a lot of Christian stations and even secular stations that may be interested in conservative news,” Jackson said. “There are affiliate stations in Washington state, California, Oregon, all along the West Coast, and everything in between, all the way over to Florida.”
In addition, AFN is available in every state, and in many international locations, through the digital publication of its stories and podcasts on its app for smart devices and online at afn.net.
“Audiences want to know what is happening on a daily basis, and they want to hear how Christians are reacting,” Jackson said. “That’s what our team here at AFN does. We talk conservative news; we talk to conservatives to get their take on the direction things are going.”
From warning to reality
As Christian voices are increasingly being silenced, Wildmon’s prophetic perception of the need for Christian news broadcasting is now an undeniable reality.
“I believe we’ve become a very vital component of the ministry of AFA because people don’t have a lot of places to go to get solid information – from a biblical perspective – about what’s going on in their world,” Jackson explained. “As the culture has become more rebellious to God, that has driven people to have a greater demand for a news service like ours.
“Among Christian audiences, there is a growing awareness that what we’re seeing in our culture right now is a manifestation of spiritual warfare,” he added. “Christian values are under attack more and more, and the audience is becoming aware of that type of spiritual warfare, and that’s why our newscasts are in demand.”
While mainstream media mutes, mocks, or downright attacks the messaging of AFA, the dire vision that Wildmon saw threatening the culture – and the corresponding need for Christian broadcasting – has come to fulfillment.
“The kinds of things Wildmon warned about for years are happening now, and they’re happening across the country,” Jackson said. “Over the past five to seven years, the reality of attacks against Christian values has become very evident. There is no question about it; it is not a matter of speculation anymore. It is happening. So, people have become believers in the warning of Don Wildmon.”
(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the December 2024 print edition of The Stand. Click HERE for a free six-month subscription.)
