 Not everyone cared much about Alaska, the remote home state of World Christian Broadcasting’s station KNLS. But John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his would-be vice president has changed all that. Even though the McCain-Palin ticket didn’t prevail, Governor Palin has given citizens of the Pacific Rim countries have another good reason to pay attention.
The Pacific Rim is that part of the eastern hemisphere that encompasses the English-prevalent countries of the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Additionally—English is widely spoken in Indonesia.
The KNLS English Hour is the Pacific Rim’s source for music to love, news to know, and a message to live. The KNLS signal stretches as far as the world’s most populous democracy—India—a former British colony that has English as its official language.
While we work to provide a geographical balance in the topics we feature, news about the USA is of great interest to many listeners around the world. The English Hour does tell stories about life in the United States and KNLS’ home state of Alaska. Two of the programs are titled The American Highway and Postcard from Alaska.
Since our target audience is mostly non-Christians, our content is different from a typical Christian format station in America. While we provide our share of positive, uplifting content, some of our programming also provides an honest look at the dark side of life on Earth. Indeed, some program segments, such as a popular music selection and the 2007 award-winning report about slave trafficking in India, may raise questions that a thoughtful seeker of the truth will ask. And some segments, such as the Bible lessons, serve to answer those questions. |
Music is a universal language. Probably 80 per cent of the world’s pop tunes are sung in English, and are enjoyed by people everywhere, many who are themselves not proficient in English. The KNLS English hour features your favorite songs of the 80’s, 90’s, and today. International pop charts show that your favorite music is also the favorite of people who are culturally diverse—whether in Nairobi, Sydney, Singapore, or Jakarta.
The songs are rock, pop, and r&b, with an occasional selection of country or hip-hop. The KNLS English Hour generally features music by artists from the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Americans are familiar with Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Coldplay, Chris Brown, Colbie Callait, Daniel Powter, David Archuleta, David Cook, Daughtry, Duffy, Gavin DeGraw, Jesse McCartney, Jordin Sparks, the Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Leona Lewis, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, Ne-Yo, Nickelback, One Republic, Rihanna, Sara Bareilles, Sarah McLachlan, Swedish pop star September, Taylor Swift, Three Doors Down, and Australia’s Delta Goodrem—and Christian crossover artists such as Mat Kearney, Michael W. Smith, and Switchfoot,—just to name a few.
In November, KNLS listeners will be introduced to new music from Amy McDonald, Jon McLaughlin, The Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Keane, Missy Higgins, Natasha Bedingfield, Ne-Yo, Oasis, and Vanessa Amorosi.
Since KNLS is a Christian station, we screen song lyrics for their language and their message. Some songs provide a positive, uplifting, or values-based message. Some provide commentary about life, both good and bad. And some are purely for entertainment, to give the listener a chance to take a deep breath and lighten up for moment.
Once an hour, we take a break from pop music and present acapella Profiles in Christian Music with Gayle Crowe.
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The English hour features reports about topics of current interest. Marcy Bryan reports about entertainment, business, and religious news. Kelly Ann Monahan has the latest developments in medicine, science, and computer technology. Blake Farmer and Paul Ladd provide special reports about diverse topics, religious and secular. Doug Poling provides commentary on the news from a Christian perspective on Today’s News & the Good News. And Bob Alchevski of Focus on the Family provides Plugged-in Movie Reviews. Bob rates the latest movies according to family friendliness. This is in addition to Marcy Bryan’s regular movie reviews in her Eye on Entertainment reports. And Fred Osterman reports about the latest news in the world of radio.
Upcoming reports for mid autumn, 2008:
*Dermot Cole reports on the influence and possible post-election future of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
*Blake Farmer provides a balanced report about gay Christians and the Exodus ministry.
*They did so well on cable TV—that Disney is putting the sequel of the sequel on the big screen. Marcy Bryan reports about the blockbuster High School Musical 3.
*Marcy also reports that Elvis is not only still dead—he’s still quite rich—in fact—richer than Madonna and Justin Timberlake.
*And Marcy reports about new ways to make cell phones less intrusive—both for drivers and London subway passengers.
*Kelly Ann Monahan reports about a new artificial heart developed in France.
*Kelly Ann also reports about the debut of Windows 7.
*Has smoking gotten a stamp of disapproval? Lloyd Devries reports on the U.S. Postal Service flap about the new Bette Davis issue.
*Lloyd also reports how the slowing economy is really putting the snail in snail mail.
*Paul Ladd interviews author Timothy Keller about the intellectual issues of belief in God.
* Bob Alchevski reviews Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The Express, Knights in the Rodanth, and City of Ember, rating their family-friendliness.
Souder and Friends
Sometimes funny. Sometimes serious. But always getting your attention. It’s time for Souder & Friends! Long-time KNLS program contributor Larry Souder introduces us to his classic collection of interesting friends. You can hear it on Thursdays on KNLS.
In November, Larry has a great time explaining the word “cuckoo” to an English-challenged audience. Souder & Friends also features a collector of thousands of vinyl records.
The English Express
They’re conversational expressions by conversational people. They may be proverbs, idioms, or puns. But they may not be literal. Dick Brackett, Marcy Bryan, and Paul Ladd join forces to bring KNLS listeners the stories behind some of the idiomatic sayings of the English language. |
