The (Digital) Natives Are Restless

Stimulating article in USA Today, January 29 article about the latest move by Apple to establish itself as a leader in the digital world:

Apple Computer Inc. has introduced "iTunes U," a nationwide expansion of a service that makes course lectures and other educational materials accessible via Apple's iTunes software.

Internet access to college lectures is nothing new, but listening to them on portable gadgets is a more recent phenomenon of the digital age, spurred in part by the popularity of podcasts, or downloadable audio files.

The University of Missouri offered podcasts of lectures through its school network before it signed up with Apple last summer as a pilot school. But "iTunes U" offered a software and service package for free, said Keith Politte, the development officer at the university's School of Journalism.

The market dominance of Apple's iTunes Music Store and iPods, which helped spawn the podcast movement, also was key.

"Our students are digital natives. We seek to meet our students where they are, and iTunes is the interface that most of our students are already familiar with," Politte said.

That lasat observation is very helpful to remember. Anyone with a high schooler at home knows this to be true. These kids are multi-tasking experts, and they are indeed "digital natives."

We need to be about reaching those natives with our message. How are we going to do that? How do we connect in meaningful ways?

Reactions to Recent Broadcast (Submission?)

Here is a sampling of the strong reaction we received about last week's programs with a prerecorded message by Todd Wilson. Notice the diversity of listener demographics and personal situations. Very, very informative. Reminds me that we have quite a broad group of listeners!

Re: Today's broadcast: She was at that conference and right before she went to the conference her husband admitted he had hired a prostitute. She said the conference was just what she needed and God has renewed their marriage and done a great work in their relationship. She said thank you so much for playing the broadcast and reminding her of that time.

Mrs. G called to thank Dr. Dobson for the broadcast. She grew up in a family where her mother was constantly putting her father down, and found it hard to learn how to respect her husband like she should, but wanted to do it right from the start. She saw the effects of that family structure, and wanted something better for her family. "Keep getting that message out to our families. Our country needs to get back to doing things right."

Question: What is a wife to do when the "lead dog" is a deceptive and abusive man and there are children involved?

Mrs. F enthusiastically agrees with Todd Wilson's advice. She said her husband used to be passive, but when she stopped controlling things and just loved him the way he was, things changed and he began to lead the family. I thanked her for calling and told her I would pass on her comments.

Mrs. W called in to say that she is a homeschool mother of six. She was very encouraged with today's broadcast. She is 100% behind the concept of the lead dog, and is saddened that we would expect some negative feedback with something so biblical.

Mrs. S wanted to let Dr. Dobson know that "letting the lead dog lead" does not always work. In her case her husband will let her do everything, and the trash can pile up for 5 years if she does not do it. They've been in counseling, and even the counselors have determined that she is going to have to take the lead. The Lord has restored their marriage, but he has not changed much.

First time caller wanted to thank Dr Dobson for today's broadcast. She had actually been contemplating divorce until she heard "What Husband's Need Most" and had decided against it. I added them to our mailing list, and offered prayer, and told her I'd pass this miracle along.

This program helped the constituent turn a corner in letting her husband lead.

The guests that we have on always seem to be motivational speakers, with a stay at home wife homeschooling the kids. I don't know anyone like that. I am a divorced single dad. I can't imagine that I am the only person in this situation. Why is everyone married and homeschooling? It seems like the people we have as guests are not like anybody I know. Could we get a little more variety?

Think of these folks next time you are doing your work.

Radio Spot Wins "ADDY" Award!

Special recognition to our own Richard Beattie and Mark Oss for their excelllent work on a spot for the (now discontinued) Life On The Edge radio program. In a regional competition for audio and print advertising, an "Addy" was awarded to FOF for the creative work by Richard and Mark on that LOTE spot.

Congratulations for a job well done!

Focus Daily Program Receives Award!

Dr. Frank Wright, President & CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters has informed us that Dr. Dobson's "Focus on The Family" radio program has been awarded the 2006 NRB Media Award for Best Radio Talk Show of the Year.

The award cites the program for its presentation of stimulating topics that engender audience response, selection of general interest topics offered with an overall Christian viewpoint when topics are of a religious nature, and an ability to put the listening audience at ease when interviewing guests with different viewpoints.

Presentation of the award will be at the 63rd annual NRB convention in Dallas on Saturday, February 18. Dr. Dobson is unable to attend, but Jim Daly has been invited to accept the award on his behalf. In addition, the program will be featured in the February-March issue of NRB magazine.

Congratulations to Dr. Dobson! Also, congratulations to the Programming and Production staff who work so diligently on the program with Dr. Dobson, and to the support from so many others across the ministry!

Sanctity of Every Life

Here's an article that is absolutely correct in its assertions about the sanctity of every life, and the need to protect every preborn child. I read it on the eve of "Sanctity of Life Sunday." Selected portion:

If a woman has a prenatal test for Down Syndrome and it comes back positive, nine out of 10 of those pregnancies will be terminated.

So in all this hullabaloo about women controlling their bodies, we’ve opened up the Pandora’s box of selective genocide. If your genome isn’t quite right, practice shows, we’re fine with sucking you out and flushing you. It is a loathsome prenatal discrimination against the handicapped.

A group of handicapped, by the way, which the last generation realized happily are typically capable of being full and productive citizens.

Indeed.

I recall reading Koop and Schaeffer's Whatever Happened To The Human Race, in which they powerfully made this very point. The handicapped are quite capable of being happy, of having a rich and meaningful life. Who are we (the presumably healthy individuals) to suggest they aren't worthy of life? What audacity. What recklessness. What an affront to the Maker of Life.

The "less fortunate" among us is still created in the image of the Almighty. Let's not "play God" any more. Let's accept the gifts the Creator gives us. Even those packaged differently than we expected.

Thanks to Bob Lonsberry for writing this. Read the entire piece here.

New Briargate Media Website

Check out the newly revised "business to business" Briargate website. It is accessed by our radio and television affiliates, and has quite a lot of good information. The site also serves as a promotional tool, and guides our industry partners to various FOF websites (including the press release section).

It looks very good! Kudos to Adam Shelton for the excellent work.

Employee of the Month?

Of course, this is NOT indicative of how we recognize our staff members for their excellent work, but it IS FUNNY!

I don't know about all the offerings, but go here to see more comics or to sign up for email delivery.

Sharing Life Together - Station Promotion

Here's a nice promotion for Sharing Life Together. We're glad the station likes the program so much they've featured it front and center on their website.

"Splash!"

Nashville Today - Can I Hear You?

I’m posting this from Nashville, where I just spent a day with the folks at GSF Media. Greg Fast, the owner/president, was instrumental in my journey to FOF back in 1991.

Greg worked in the Broadcasting area, and facilitated my eventual application for a job in the Programming department. He now has his own company, which creates and syndicates various radio programs and features.

Glenn Williams, Clark Miller and I came out here for some “outside perspectives” about our work. The GSF team we met with had good things to say about Focus Broadcasting. They graciously suggested that in all we do, FOF is “the gold standard.” That was encouraging, and I hope you’re going about your work with an eye toward excellence in all you do. That’s our legacy.

Greg’s team also had some good questions about what we do. They asked about the changing radio landscape, and queried us about “the plan” for the coming months and years, and about the inevitable – “succession.”

If you have any questions about these aspects of FOF Broadcasting, send me an email or note. I’d like to make sure you are at least as much “in the know” as others!

One more thing. Just as we heard a different perspective about what we do from some friends in Nashville, I also hope to hear from you! Let me know what you are thinking about our work, our outreach, our impact.

Sharing Life Together Markets

Brian Neils just supplied the latest info about Sharing Life Together markets:

Abbeville, AL
Abilene, TX
Albany, OR
Anchorage, AK
Asheville, NC
Billings, MT
Bluefield, WV
Centralia, MO
Charlotte, NC
Colstrip/Miles City, MT
Columbia, SC
Columbus, OH
Danville, VA
Dublin, VA
Freeport, ME
Gillette, WY
Great Falls, MT
Greenville, SC
Havre, MT
Helena, MT
Kalispell, MT
Kingsport, TN
Lafayette, LA
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Lewistown, MT
Louisville, KY
Lynden, WA
Madrid, IA
Martinsville, VA
McAllen, TX
Medford, OR
Monroe, LA
Mount Gilead, OH
Myrtle Beach, SC
Osceola, IA
Plains, MT
Riverside, CA
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Roanoke, VA
Salem, VA
Savannah, GA
Seattle, WA
Sheridan, WY
Springfield, MO
St. Cloud, MN
Wash. DC
Wilmington, NC

That is a long list, and growing weekly! Congratulations to all involved in synidcation efforts!

Christmas Joy - Thank You!

Here are some "Kodak moments" of the gift delivery to our "Adopt A Family." You gave generously, and the family was very appreciative! As was noted in devos, these folks knew nothig of FOF until we "adopted" them, and the children are watching the Odyssey videos and DVDs everyday!









The kids had great fun opening just a few more Odyssey gifts!






Looks like they really enjoyed opening the bubble wrap, too. The temporary thrill of popping that stuff was over in just moments!





Special thanks to Pat, Charlotte, Brian Neils and Carol for their extra effort to make this happen. And thanks to all who contributed. What a special team of co-workers we have!

Reaching Around The World

Did you know that much of what we do in this part of the ministry is utilized around the globe? Here are the realities, as reported by Denise Washington in the International division:

We currently have 4372 facilities in 164 countries with an estimated global audience of 220 million. We are currently broadcasting in 26 languages including Albanian, Arabic, Afrikaans, Armenian, Cantonese, Croatian, English, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, and Zulu.

While not all of what you and I do is translated or used by radio stations overseas, much of it is. At the least, our work is a model for how our international affiliates approach broadcasting.

Impacting lives around the world. Be encouraged by this incredible extension of your work!

Clarification about DAVECO

Steve Reinke brought to my attention that DAVECO will certainly serve a need, but only until we implement the "satellite FTP" delivery of our audio programming. When that happens, the entire delivery process will experience great change, and the DAVECO program will no longer be needed. So, my earlier comment that DAVECO will be used "for years" by the FSN crew may not be entirely accurate. That does not in the least diminish the recognition for Dave Allen, however!

DAVECO and More

The Kudos: Hats off to Broadcast Team Member Dave Allen for the recognition this morning! Dave created the code for an automation system that FSN will use for years.His programming skills proved most useful in solving a lingering problem. I’ve personally had to apologize to stations in the past for the mess-ups caused by ENCO freezes, and it looks like DAVECO makes all that a thing of the past. Way to go, Dave!

The Devo: Sorry if my devo today was not the usual cheery “wasn’t last year wonderful?” kind of reflection. I am not inclined to be negative person, but have always been a realist. The events of 2005 more than ever made me appreciate God’s presence and power as we struggled with some fairly serious issues on the home front. Not as hard as some folks had it, but challenging enough for us. Anyway, the point was to listen for God’s voice and to look for His hand in ALL of life…even the mundane. I trust you will find 2006 to be a significant time of listening and seeing.

The Blog: Sorry, no passwording this blog as it currently exists. Adding a password is possible if we move the blog to a different server. I don’t think that will be necessary…but am open to doing that if it seems prudent.

The “Impact Update” notes: were few, as the workplace was so quiet during Christmas and New Year’s weeks. Looks like we are getting back up to speed, however, so look for more info about a variety of projects and activities in the coming days!

Reminder: Prayer requests, please, to Pat by end of day.

It is looking like a great day!

The New Year is Ahead!

Welcome back to the new year! While 2005 was a wonderful year, it certainly was difficult at times. Looking ahead, I suspect that 2006 will have much for which to be thankful.

God has used the efforts of the FOF Broadcast team for nearly 29 years to touch hearts worldwide. He will surely move in incredible ways during the next 12 months. Let’s commit this day and the coming 363 days to Him. Here’s to impacting lives for His Kingdom and glory!

Special note: a group of prayer warriors from across the ministry is gathering later this week. They are praying for you and me in a special way! What an honor, and yet one more thing for which to thank our Lord.

REQUEST: Would you please immediately an email to Pat (patricia.dahlberg@fotf.org) with any work-related – or even personal - needs that you would have this group pray about on Thursday? She’ll pass your request along right away.

I wonder how God might move in our midst in responbse to these prayers? Can't wait to see...