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St Francis Magazine Vol 9, No 4 | August 2013
communicate the gospel into the cultures of North Africa, this western expression of the Christian
faith was not sufficient as a criterion for selecting candidates.
3. Target Audience and Preferred Languages
3.1 Aiming at North Africa
As NAM only worked in North Africa when it began its broadcasting ministry during the 1950s,
it was so obvious that the organization was to produce programs for North Africa that no formal
decision regarding its intended target audience seems to have been taken.
In 1974 George Rider, director of RSB at that time, was convinced they were reaching the
educated people of North Africa, and he was satisfied with that. ‘I still feel that we are reaching […]
the educated people. A number of letters are coming in; we are reaching the educated people
through an educated presentation of the Gospel.’ 106 That was logical, as RSB used MSA as the
language of the programs, and that could only be understood by the educated elite. Moreover, those
who were able to write back to RSB were also those who could read and write.
In 1980, RSB was speaking in much broader terms about its intended audience. ‘Our objective is
to reach as many Muslim people as possible. We try to transmit in a manner which will attract as
wide an audience as possible rather than just a few people,’ Harris and Sīkālī published in 1980. 107
This statement was probably for public relations only, as RSB knew its main audience was better
educated.
Ken McBride, the director of RSB from 1979-1984, described the target audience of Light upon
Light in 1982:
Target audience of Nour ala Nour (Light upon Light) in standard Arabic is Arabic speaking North Africans
18-26 years old with at least 3-4 years of secondary education. They can use standard Arabic. We believe
they are open to change because of confusion over values (traditional vs. modern secular) and frustration in
their search for more education, work, marriage etc. It is also a time of life when people check out the
options before making or confirming their major life commitments. 108
McBride’s assumption that North Africans with three or four years of secondary schooling would
be able to meaningfully use MSA was too optimistic and it is contradicted by research done all over
the Arab world. 109
3.2 Preference for MSA
In August 1958, when Field Administration meetings in North Africa discussed the issue of
becoming involved in program production, the term ‘North African colloquials [sic]’ was used. This
gives the impression that from the beginning of NAM’s interest in broadcasting, it wanted to do so
in the spoken languages of North Africa. This might mean NAM considered broadcasting in
Amazigh languages or colloquial Arabic. If NAM had thought of broadcasting in MSA, the minutes
would have spoken about ‘Arabic’, not ‘North African colloquials’. 110
NAM’s Field Council decided in 1959 that a start had to be made with simple Scripture readings
in Arabic, colloquial, and Amazigh dialects. Later other types of programs had to be developed and
would include ‘Classical Arabic and French.’ 111 This underlines that NAM’s initial preference was for
broadcasting programs in colloquial Arabic, not in MSA. Harris wrote in 1959 that it ‘has long been
the prayer of missionaries […] that Gospel programs in colloquial Arabic might one day be heard in
106 Transcript of a speech by George Rider, ‘Demonstration of Media Solution– Case Histories’ (20 February 1974,
Marseille), p. 3, from the Archives of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, Collection 86, Box 27, Folder 28.
107 Harris and Sikaly, ‘What’s Happening in 1980’, p. 5.
108 Ibid.
109 More on this issue is treated in chapter 3 of the thesis, on languages and literacy in the Arab world.
110 Harold W. Stalley, ‘Memorandum to Home Councils, Report of Field Administration (29 July-2 August 1958)’, p. 3,
from the NAM/AWM files in Worthing.
111 ‘Minutes of Meeting of Field Council held at Tangier (22-24 September 1959)’, p. 3.
St Francis Magazine is published by Arab Vision and Interserve 15