Lino Rulli—a man with a large nose (an Italian)—spoke to the attendees of the Catholic New Media Celebration during a keynote address on Saturday, and talked about the importance of "doing things right" in new media.
He made three main points:
- Study what others are doing, and copy what others are doing right.
- Identify your passion and pursue it.
- It is not *just the message* that matters.
I fully support these points, and I wish to highlight a few more salient points he made. He said that we need to see the good and effective things others are doing in media (old/new), and copy the best things they do. It's perfectly acceptable to do the same thing as everyone else—if it's awesome.
His second point could be summarized, quite simply, as "Know thyself." Lino made the important distinction between having a passion, and being *good* at it. We should understand that we will likely encounter some amount of opposition if we're proclaiming the Gospel and doing it well. In fact, Rulli said, "If you aren't ruffling people's feathers, you're not doing something right." (Remember, Jesus was killed for speaking the Truth!).
He wrapped up his keynote speaking of the importance of professionalism and artistry in our media work. You need to know your audience, and write for that specific audience. You also need to appeal to people's senses, just as Catholic artisans have done for centuries in creating cathedrals, beautiful works of art, etc. Michaelangelo may not have been the most devout and pious person on earth, but the Church recognized his talent, and allowed him to come to the fore and produce some of the most beautiful art, ever.
The Church, then, has the role of supporting the arts, including podcast, video, and audio media (all of which Lino considers to be artistic endeavors), and should work to be charitable in making sure the most talented and professional people are doing what they do best, while proclaiming the Gospel message of Christ to a new 'digital continent.'
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Comments
does Lino have a big nose?
Huge. :D