National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is an American organization that represents Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 religious broadcasters

Religious broadcasting

Religious broadcasting refers to broadcasting by religious organizations, usually with a religious message. Many religious organizations have long recorded content such as sermons and lectures, and have moved into distributing content on their Internet websites.While this article emphasises...

 on American television

Television in the United States

Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...

 and radio

Radio in the United States

Radio is one of the major mass media of the United States.-History:The beginning of regular commercially licensed sound broadcasting in the United States in 1920 ended the print monopoly over the media and opened the doors to the more immediate and pervasive electronic media...

, including several high-profile televangelists

Televangelism

Televangelism is the use of television to communicate the Christian faith. The word is a portmanteau of television and evangelism and was coined by Time magazine. A “televangelist” is a Christian minister who devotes a large portion of his ministry to television broadcasting...

 and Christian radio

Christian radio

Christian radio is a category of radio formats that focus on transmitting programming with a Christian message. In the United States, where it is more established, many such broadcasters play popular music of Christian influence, though many programs have talk or news programming covering...

 show hosts. It claims a membership of more than 1700 organizations. It is headquartered in Manassas, Virginia

Manassas, Virginia

The City of Manassas is an independent city surrounded by Prince William County and the independent city of Manassas Park in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Its population was 37,821 as of 2010. Manassas also surrounds the county seat for Prince William County but that county...

.

In spite of its generic name, the NRB represents only a specific view of Christianity, with a clear mission statement

Mission statement

A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...

, statement of faith

Statement of faith

A statement of faith is a statement of the core beliefs of a religious group.A typical statement of faith is said to be a non-comprehensive summary of the core beliefs of a particular faith within a tradition . Even religious organizations without affiliation will use a statement of faith for...

, and code of ethics on its website.

Services

NRB also operates a Christian television network on the DirecTV

DirecTV

DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...

 satellite television

Satellite television

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

 service called the NRB Network

NRB Network

The NRB Network is an evangelical Christian cable channel run by the National Religious Broadcasters, a national organization representing televangelists and Christian-themed media outlets. While the NRB organization is located in Manassas, Virginia, the channel's corporate headquarters is located...

. The network consists of programming produced by NRB members, including FamilyNet

FamilyNet

FamilyNet is a broadcast television network owned by ComStar Media Fund and based in Atlanta, Georgia. The network was founded in 1979 as the National Christian Network, and took the name FamilyNet in 1988 under the ownership of Jerry Falwell. The channel was acquired by InTouch Ministries in...

 and the Christian Broadcasting Network

Christian Broadcasting Network

The Christian Broadcasting Network, or CBN, is a fundamentalist Christian television broadcasting network in the United States. Its headquarters and main studios are in Virginia Beach, Virginia.-Background:...

, among others.

NRB magazine is published nine times per year. The magazine contains news about the Christian broadcasting industry. It includes columns and feature articles about the radio, Internet, and television concerning finances, ethics, and management.

History

The NRB was founded in 1944 in response to evangelical denominations being unable to obtain radio time, with the mainline Federal Council of Churches controlling most Protestant radio time. http://www.nae.net/index.cfm?FUSEACTION=nae.history

Governance

Frank Wright, an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church in America

Presbyterian Church in America

The Presbyterian Church in America is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination, the second largest Presbyterian church body in the United States after the Presbyterian Church . The PCA professes a strong commitment to evangelism, missionary work, and Christian education...

, is the president of NRB. NRB is governed by a board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

. Annually, the board establishes an executive committee consisting of five elected officers of the association and five members-at-large elected by the board. In March 2008 Bill Skelton, the President and CEO of Love Worth Finding in Memphis TN was elected chairman of the executive committee. NRB General Counsel Richard E. Wiley is a former FCC chairman. He is a senior partner in the law firm of Wiley Rein LLP.

Criticism

In a May 30, 2005 column in Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine

Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...

, Chris Hedges

Chris Hedges

Christopher Lynn Hedges is an American journalist, author, and war correspondent, specializing in American and Middle Eastern politics and societies...

 identifies National Religious Broadcasters as one of the leading groups of the Dominionist

Dominionism

Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to conspire and seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation...

 movement: "traditional evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

s, those who come out of Billy Graham

Billy Graham

William Franklin "Billy" Graham, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian evangelist. As of April 25, 2010, when he met with Barack Obama, Graham has spent personal time with twelve United States Presidents dating back to Harry S. Truman, and is number seven on Gallup's list of admired people for...

’s mold, are not necessarily comfortable with the direction taken by the Dominionists, who now control most of America’s major evangelical organizations, from the NRB to the Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...

, and may already claim dominion over the Christian media outlets."
TheocracyWatch

TheocracyWatch

TheocracyWatch is a project run by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy , located at Cornell University. It was founded by Joan Bokaer, an environmental activist because, she says, "After the 2000 election she realized that few people understood that the religious right had taken...

, a project of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy (CRESP) at Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, points out the link between National Religious Broadcasters and Dominionism

Dominionism

Dominionism is a term used to describe politically active conservative Christians that are believed to conspire and seek influence or control over secular civil government through political action, especially in the United States, with the goal of either a nation governed by Christians, or a nation...

.

External links

• Official site
• Stations Of The Cross: How evangelical Christians are creating an alternative universe of faith-based news, Mariah Blake, Columbia Journalism Review
  Columbia Journalism Review
  The Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....