c. 1996 Religion News Service

Blockbuster Music forms partnership to promote Christian music

(RNS) Blockbuster Music has formed a partnership with McSpadden-Smith Music, a Nashville-based entertainment company, to promote contemporary Christian music in Blockbuster’s stores nationwide.”This is a new and exciting opportunity for contemporary Christian music record labels,”Ron Smith, a partner in McSpadden-Smith, told The CCM Update, a weekly trade publication about the genre.”Blockbuster Music will definitely become a competitive force in boosting sales in the mainstream market.” Marketing efforts will include organizing contemporary Christian music sections in Blockbuster’s more than 500 stores across the country. There also will be promotional campaigns and artist performances at retail outlets. Blockbuster Music, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., recently started selling CCM Magazine, a monthly trade publication, in its stores.

F.L. Chase, vice president of marketing of Blockbuster Music, said in a statement:”Blockbuster Music has been tracking the tremendous growth and potential of the contemporary Christian music category and we feel it is time to make a pro-active move toward increasing exposure of the music genre for Blockbuster Music customers.” The promotional efforts, which begin in the fall, will begin in cities such as Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago and Oklahoma City, and expand later to the entire Blockbuster chain.”In order for our industry to grow, we’ve got to have mainstream sales,”Smith said.”I think people should be able to walk into any music retail outlet and be able to purchase Christian music.”

FEC backs off Robertson campaign charges

(RNS) Acknowledging that its case would likely be thrown out of court because the statute of limitations for prosecution had expired, the Federal Elections Commission has dropped its case against religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, even though investigators for the commission believe Robertson accepted more than $1.7 million in illegal campaign contributions, the Associated Press reported.

FEC regulators closed their eight-year investigation of Robertson’s failed bid for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination in May. On Aug. 16, as is required in closed cases, the FEC opened its files to the public on the investigation.

According to the files, FEC investigators had reason to believe Robertson had violated election law by arranging for CBN Continental, a subsidiary of the Christian Broadcasting Network, to pay $900,000 for a plane to fly him to campaign events, the AP reported. An additional $250,000 was spent to modify the plane for Robertson’s use. Other funds were inappropriately spent, according to FEC investigators, on computer equipment and direct-mail fundraising.

Robertson’s attorney, Jan Baran, insisted there was no wrongdoing and that the FEC was”smearing”his client because it could not win in court.”Pat Robertson is appalled that the FEC, after eight years, would make public raw files containing unsubstantiated charges and innuendo,”Baran said.

Update: Disney plans to bring `King David’ to Times Square

(RNS) The Walt Disney Company, whose films and corporate policies have been the target of recent criticism from the Southern Baptist Convention and the Assemblies of God for failing to uphold their notion of family values, announced Monday (Aug. 19) it was bringing King David to New York City’s once-seedy 42nd Street.

For the May 1997 unveiling of its renovation of the 93-year-old New Amsterdam Theater, Disney will present a limited performance of a new musical about the biblical king, poet, warrior and statesman, The New York Times reported.”If King David were alive today, I’m sure he’d be delighted that Walt Disney is doing his story,”said Mike Okrent, director of the new production by the composing team of Alan Mencken and Tim Rice. Mencken has won Academy Awards for”Aladdin,””Pocahontas,””The Little Mermaid,”and”Beauty and the Beast.””King David”was described by Disney CEO Michael Eisner as an oratorio, or song cycle, to be performed in a costumed concert. The concert, Eisner told the Times, could be the first step for a full stage production.

The theater renovation is part of an effort to transform New York’s Times Square into a tourist attraction suitable for families.

RNS reporter Glenn Everett dies at 75

(RNS) Glenn D. Everett, a longtime former Washington correspondent for Religion News Service, died Aug. 16 at the age of 75.

Everett, a part-time correspondent for RNS, covered the Washington beat during the 1950s and 1960s.

An avid collector of stamps, particularly those with religious themes, Everett had written for a number of publications, including newspapers in Missouri and Ohio. He also had done reporting from Poland and East Germany.

For many years, Everett operated a photo greeting card business.

A native of Sandusky, Ohio, Everett came to Washington in 1944 and was an active member of a United Methodist church in Potomac, Md.

Quote of the day: Gerry Shishin Wick Sensei, Zen teacher

Gerry Shishin Wick Sensei, a Zen teacher and director of software development at Merriam Webster, Inc., on the value of an open mind in the workplace.

Writing in the current issue of Tricycle Magazine on Zen at work, Wick explored the enlightened qualities of a good manager:”A closed mind causes separation and suspicion. Like an umbrella, a mind is only useful when it is open.”

MJP END RNS