Media effects of basic Christian message presented on television

Right from the beginning, the Church began to use new devices of modern communication technology, such as radio and television. The new media are no exception. The Church wants to communicate her message by all possible means. In using new technologies many new questions arise that cannot be ignored. Are these new communication channels appropriate for conveying the Church’s basic message? Is not a vital part of the message lost in the communication process? What effects are there on a listener or viewer of receiving the message through these media? The aim of this paper is to introduce us to this topic through the first part of the research on the audience of the American Catholic television channel, EWTN. The purpose of the research was to find out the effects of the basic evangelistic message (Kerygma) presented in the programme Choices We Face on its viewers. This programme is the longest lasting (since 1985) in the history of the Catholic Church. The research sample is made up of 470 viewers of this programme who completed a quantitative – qualitative questionnaire. This questionnaire was a research tool in the first stage of audience research. In this paper the author tries to answer, at least partially, the question: ‘To what extent can the message, the Kerygma, mediated in this way, change the thinking and actions of a viewer? Does it have the power to trigger conversion? ‘