Madrid, a TV channel ” “for evangelization” “

Commentary on the daily Gospel reading; a slot dedicated to the family; news bulletins that also include news about the Catholic Church, its dioceses and parishes, and not just current affairs; youth debates on such issues as alcohol and drugs; animated cartoons; masses; and films: these are just some of the programmes of TMT, the television channel of the archdiocese of Madrid, a service that is offered by the Spanish diocese to all its own parishes and that is a sign of the attention of the local Church to the use of the media in evangelization. A TV channel for the family. The archbishopric of Madrid, feeling the need for a “necessary presence of the Church in the world of television”, took steps to start up a local television channel, whose principles are those of “informing, forming and guiding public opinion with criteria based on the gospel values”. The website of TMT, www.canaltmt.tv, explains some of the themes that guide the channel’s programming: “the defence and promotion of the person and the family, the defence of human rights, solidarity between individuals and between peoples, with special attention to the poor and the disadvantaged in our society”. Nor are references “to ecumenism, to religious dialogue and to the co-existence between cultures” lacking. Styles and contents. As far as the contents of programmes are concerned, “TMT strives to ensure in a particular way the truthfulness and the objectivity of its information, beginning with the rigorous checking of the facts by corroborating evidence and controls on the trustworthiness of its sources of information”. In expressing its opinions, “it takes into consideration respect for the integrity of the person as well as the right to have one’s personal intimacy and one’s own image respected”. TMT, moreover, wishes to be “characterised by the rigour and quality of its staff, at all levels: financial, professional and advertising, thus highlighting the specific qualities of the television product it provides”. For this reason, the executives of the channel “maintain close collaboration with the diocese of Madrid with a view to the common task of evangelization”. A TV channel for believers and non-believers. TMT aims to reach “the Catholic public of Madrid to help them deepen their own faith and offer responses to the thornier problems of life, beginning with the news stories directly connected with the life of the Church, whose treatment in the conventional media is often meagre, distorted, incomplete, if not non-existent”. Close to the public that frequents the parish there is another public composed of non-believers. To avoid “excessively compartmentalizing its own programmes”, TMT is also addressed to them. It is its conviction, in fact, that the gospel message “should exert an influence on the whole human being”. So the transmission of the faith cannot have “a well-defined target”. That’s why TMT’s programming aims to reach a public that is seeking a kind of programme different from the usual television junk. “This sector of the public includes Catholics and many other TV viewers, Catholic or not, who opt for programmes that contain interviews, news features, documentaries or entertainment, but all of consistently high quality”.