Godcasting

ANCHOR LEAD IN:
TOO BUSY TO GET TO CHURCH, TEMPLE, OR A MOSQUE? IF YOU'VE GOT AN M-P-3 PLAYER, YOU'RE IN LUCK. RELIGIOUS PROGRAMS CAN NOW BE DOWNLOADED AS EASILY AS TOP 40 HITS. IN TODAY'S HEADS UP - NO MORE 'LOSING YOUR RELIGION' WHEN YOU'RE ON THE GO...
HERE'S_____________

TRACK ONE Length: :09
GOING TO RELIGIOUS SERVICES ISN'T AS SIMPLE AS IT USED TO BE...
THESE DAYS, WORK, SPORTS AND OTHER COMMITMENTS OFTEN CONFLICT WITH TRADITIONAL SERVICES....

SOT:
Key @ : :10 Name: Kyle Lewis Title: Downloads Sermons to his iPod
"I went out of town one Sunday, and I was gone for the weekend. I missed one of the services."

TRACK TWO Length: :12
KYLE LEWIS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN IN TOWN, BUT HE WAS ONLY AN INTERNET CONNECTION AWAY...WITH A SIMPLE CLICK OF A BUTTON, LEWIS WAS ABLE TO DOWNLOAD AUDIO FILES OF HIS PASTOR'S SERMONS TO HIS MP3 PLAYER AND TAKE THEM ALONG.

NATS
Length: :03
Nats over screen shot: 'The Fear of Foolishness' sermon

TRACK THREE Length: :06
Source: Pew Research Center
More than 22 million own an MP3 player and a third have listed to a podcast.
PODCASTING IS A HUGE AND GROWING PHENOMENON. ONE REASON IS RELIGIOUS PODCASTS OR 'GODCASTS'.

SOT:
Key @ : :41 Name: Lee Rainie Title: Director, Pew Internet and American Life Project
"I would say probably anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the podcasts available online have some dimension of religion or spiritual life in them."

TRACK FOUR Length: :08
GODCASTS ARE CREATED BY HOUSES OF WORSHIP FROM EVERY DENOMINATION... AND FROM AROUND THE WORLD. THE WIDE SELECTION IS GOOD NEWS TO LEWIS.

SOT:
Key @ : :58 Name: Kyle Lewis Title: Downloads Sermons to his iPod
"It's a good opportunity to hear other church's sermons..."

TRACK FIVE Length: :06
BUT, ANY INDIVIDUAL CAN ALSO PUT OUT A GODCAST AND EXPRESS RELIGIOUS VIEWS, BECAUSE YOU DON'T NEED A LICENSE...

SOT:
Key @ : 1:09 Name: Lee Rainie Title: Director, Pew Internet and American Life Project
"There's always the chance that fanatics or religious extremists or those that promote violence will get into the business of godcasting."

TRACK SIX Length: :07
SOME TRADITIONALISTS WORRY THAT GODCASTS WILL STOP PEOPLE FROM GOING TO SERVICES AT ALL. BUT THAT'S NOT HOW LEWIS SEES IT...

SOT:
No Key @ :
Name Kyle Lewis Title: Downloads Sermons to his iPod
"I don't think it will ever replace church. It's a great tool to use, but it's not a substitution for it."

ANCHOR TAG:
RAINIE SAYS FOR THE MOST PART, RELIGIOUS PODCASTS ARE FREE. BUT HE THINKS WE'LL BEGIN TO SEE MORE GROUPS CHARGING FOR CERTAIN PORTIONS OF THE PROGRAMS, SUCH AS SUBSCRIPTIONS THAT DELIVER THE PROGRAMS TO LISTENER'S COMPUTERS, RATHER THAN REQUIRING YOU TO SEARCH THEM OUT YOURSELF.

CONTACT SOURCES:

Lee Rainie
Pew Research Center
1615 L Street, NW
Washington DC
Main #: 202-419-4500
Office: 202-419-4510
Cell: 202-251-8476

Lee Rainie is the founding Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Since December 1999, the Washington D.C. research center has examined how people's internet use affects their families, communities, health care, education, civic and political life, and work places.
In addition, the Project uses regular surveys to track online life. It regularly reports findings on subjects such as teenagers' and senior citizens' use of the internet, broadband adoption, trends in email use, how people employ search engines, use of the internet to gather news (especially about politics), blog creation and readership, and trends in music and movie file sharing.
The Project has issued more than 100 reports based on social issues and online activities. It also has focused research on important public policy questions such as public attitudes about trust and privacy online, development of e-government, attitudes about intellectual property issues, the impact of spam, and the status of digital divides. The Project is non-partisan and takes no positions on policy matters. All of its reports and datasets are available online for free at: http://www.pewinternet.org.
Prior to launching the Pew Internet Project, Rainie was managing editor of U.S. News & World Report. He is a graduate of Harvard College and has a master's degree in political science from Long Island University

Contact:
Lee Rainie
Pew Research Center
1615 L Street, NW
Washington DC
Main #: 202-419-4500
Office: 202-419-4510
Cell: 202-251-8476