Radio Veritas and other Electronic Means of Communication.

Strange things are happening in the South African Catholic World!  The Catholic Radio Station, Radio Veritas, has been granted a medium wave frequency after years of trying.  Fr Emil Blaser OP has really personified the station since its inception and this is the culmination of years of his personal dedication to the Catholic broadcasting cause.

This is what he has to say about it:

OUR LICENSE - AT LAST!!

Today, 13 September 2011, Radio Veritas received its long awaited broadcast license. It's like a dream come true and constantly unfolding.

After much negotiating with ICASA the Authority granted an openended broadcast license to Radio Veritas on 576 MW here in Gauteng.  This is the culmination of years of patience and perseverance.  There were often times when we felt like throwing in the towel, feeling that the authorities were against us.  However, now, it has all come together.  We hoped for 50kW of power and got 10kW.  We will start with this and see how things develop and hopefully be granted more power in the future. We will now have to negotiate with Sentech.  Also, medium wave is expensive and we will need not only prayer and moral support but also financial support.  We will also need a new transmitter as the old one at Meyerton runs on valves and is out of fashion and expensive.

We would like to go on air as soon as possible but need to prepare well so that we can deliver a quality product on this new medium. A mass of thanksgiving will be celebrated on September 14 at 12h30 and all are invited to share this time with us.

We are grateful to many for their personal interventions - our hierarchy and some of the authorities at ICASA who have been keen to see us licensed. We have long been complimented on our broadcasts and its now so good to see all this coming together at last.  Please spread the word and give people "THE GOOD NEWS. FOR A CHANGE".

I may be a little too cynical about this but Veritas is very much an amateur station and it always comes across as lowest common denominator Catholic with lot's of  "Father you are so wonderful" phone-ins and very little critical discussion.  Quite surprising for a something that is Dominican run!

Let's hope that the new license will enable Veritas to become more professional and then generate advertising revenue so that it can have more appeal, not only to the Catholic Community but also as an evangelism tool to those outside it.  I am sure that it is possible.

The SACBC New Website is a great improvement.  It's clear, eye-catching and everything you would hope for but it is always out of date.  There is an SACBC Blog link that was last updated in November 2009!

The same degree of urgency applies to our Diocesan website as well which really does need a face-lift.

I have a feeling that the basic reason for this is too much clerical control with the traditional distrust of the laity and the clerics being too stretched to run things properly.

If we look at Hope & Joy and the Jesuit Institute the reason that everything has got off the ground so quickly and so professionally is because the Jesuits have seen the value of having skilled lay people in positions of authority and who are allowed to make decisions.

The Church at large could learn a lot from that!