Paper Presentation Titled: ‘Digital Mission; A Contemporary Approach To Evangelization In The Face Of Media Toxicity,’ at the ongoing 5th edition of the National Mission Congress (NAMICON5).
The National Director of Social Communications, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Dr. Michael Umoh, has stated that an un-communicating Church is an impossibility because the Church is communication by its very nature.
He noted that the Church came into existence as a result of God’s loving desire to reveal himself, share himself and sustain his presence, through and in Christ, among human beings and the whole of creation.
At the presentation which took place at the Jubilee Hall of the Maria Assumpta Cathedral in Owerri, the National Communications Director, explained that the Church needs to be purposeful by her engagement and choice of media in every age, by targeting them towards effective mission, because Jesus, the perfect communicator, was effective in his ministry on earth, as he deployed different means to communicate with the people.
Fr. Umoh noted that the blossoming relationship between the church and the media experienced significant challenge with the advent of ‘motion pictures,’ the cinema, and observed that the apprehension later spread to the television and other media forms with indecent pictures in the Cinema/movies identified as the major incursion for the negative attitude of the Church towards the media, which led to censorship and apathy.
Consequently, the Communication veteran further emphasised that the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), is one area the Church must urgently pay adequate attention to, and warned that the refusal to actively participate in the on-going development of the AI can be fatal for the Church.
Fr. Dr. Umoh carefully pointed out that as long as the Church leaves the media to secular people, who invest heavily in them and engage them for their purpose, the Church may end up endlessly complaining about the evil that goes on in the society with no meaningful consequences.
Therefore, with the choice of AI as the theme to focus on in the 2024 World Communication Day celebration by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the CESACC trained Communicator noted that it will be a great development for the church in Nigeria, as it will afford them the opportunity to discuss the numerous implications of AI for the mission of the Church during the annual Communications Week (ComWEEK) celebration.
He expressed great enthusiasm that the Church will make great strides if the ComWEEK programme, which is a media literacy programme, is taken seriously, and emphasised on the need for aggressive media training programmes for the clergy, all pastoral agents and laity at the grassroots.
Evaluating the dangers of media toxicity, he intimated all that when media contents cause social isolation and alienation, neglect, stress, burnout, depression and anxiety to the human person, it becomes toxic.
“Furthermore, there are many media contents out there that exploit or manipulate people’s emotions or desires, such as sensational headlines, hate speeches, fake news, click bait titles, misleading information, false promises, scams, hoaxes, or propaganda. These he said, are often used for emotional manipulation, deception, and fraud.
There is the need to be aware of how media contents are programmed in such a way that they affect proper family life by causing alienation among family members, or cause unnecessary distraction from friends, work, school, health, etc.
Media is toxic when they cause social isolation and alienation, neglect, stress, burnout, depression and anxiety to the human person.
To say the least, these aspects of the media, and many more, have adverse effects on the mental health of the people. The Church has often drawn attention to the need to be aware of them and consciously engage the media wisely and responsibly. This clearly points to the need for media literacy even in and by the Church today.”
Giving a statistical exposition on why the church should urgently engage with the digital space, Fr. Umoh citing Doris Dokua Sasu disclosed that as of January 2023, Nigeria had 31.6 million active social media users, with internet penetration of 55.4 percent, which places Nigerians as avid social media users, spending an average of 3 hours and 41 minutes on social media every day, significantly higher than the global average of 2 hours 22 minutes.
“Between January 2020 and January 2021, the number of active social media users in Nigeria increased by 22 per cent, compared with a global average increase of 13 per cent.
WhatsApp is the most popular platform used in Nigeria, with close to 95 percent of users, followed by Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. J. Degenhard, (Aug 14, 2023), notes that after the ninth consecutive increasing year, the WhatsApp user base is estimated to reach 19.93 million users as the number of its users in Nigeria was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028 by in total 11.1 million users (+125.85 percent). and therefore a new peak in 2028. This is very instructive!
“Also very worthy of note is the fact that Nigeria currently has 187.9 million mobile connections. This means that 90 per cent of Nigeria’s 208 million population using smartphones. Of the about 50 per cent of Nigerians who are regular internet users, about 93 per cent access the internet via their mobile devices. Mobile phone ownership has surpassed ownership rates for radio, television, and computers both at the personal and household levels,” he disclosed.
Observing that the Church’s general apprehension towards the media is because of the general lack of formal media formation in the seminary, which breeds element of fear and apathy among many clergy, makes them prefer keeping off the media space.
“The Church’s general apprehension towards the media.
Lack of formal media formation in the seminary. As such most bishops and priests do not have a formal training in communications.
“Because of the above, there is element of fear and apathy among many clergy; hence, they prefer to keep off the media.
Most diocesan Directorates of Communications still concentrate on the print media only.
A significant few who engage with the social media are not able to maintain it well because of lack of finance and expertise.
The nature of digital media is too fast and ever changing, unlike the Church that is highly conservative and reflective.”
He charged the Church in Nigeria on the urgent need to develop a greater awareness of the communicative dimension of its mission, and to adapt its methods and strategies to the digital culture and its dynamics, and called on Church leaders and authorities to provide all necessary guidance and support to foster digital mission and evangelization at all levels.