ENI – “The fact that a newspaper needs a short sentence, or that radio stations have only a few minutes in which to report, often does not fit in with how we talk in church. A sermon lasts at least 15 minutes, and a theological lecture at least 45,” German Lutheran Bishop Margot Käsmann said in a speech at the Protestant Media Academy in Berlin.
Journalists sometimes mock the Church because it takes so long to say things, she noted, while church people may scorn the media for looking for sound bites.
“But I like to point out that most of Jesus' parables probably last no longer than a minute and a half,” said Käsmann. “I often find that people in the Church are afraid of the media. To understand the media, we need as church people to talk to media people. Also to understand the pressures under which things are produced.”
