Catholic
publishing and broadcasting are expanding into something new
on the Web. Of course, traditional Catholic publishers are
building Web sites, with all manner of success. A few, like
this publication, are finding ways to integrate audio, video
and print on the Web. You’ll find a good list of familiar
publishers at www.catholicpress.org.
Familiar
organizations like Eternal Word Television Network (www.EWTN.com),
Maryknoll (www.Maryknoll.org)
and The Christophers (www.christophers.org)
have found a new outlet for their broadcast-quality radio
and TV programs.
Newcomers Abound
But
a meeting of all Catholic Internet publishers would largely
be a meeting of strangers. Three pioneers who acquired the
most easily recognizable domain names (Catholic.com,
Catholic.org, Catholic.net)
were not big players in Catholic publishing. Catholic.com
is a California-based apologetics ministry related to the
Catholic Answers Live radio show and Karl Keating’s
This Rock.
Catholic
Online (www.Catholic.org),
of Bakersfield, California, hosts sites and content from Catholic
organizations worldwide. Catholic.net
was launched with Vatican endorsement in 1995, and recently
joined Catholic Twin Circle Publishing Group, initiating a
Spanish site as well.
Another
newcomer, brimming with resources, is e3mil.com,
a San Diego, California, start-up now linked with the Archdiocese
of Miami for a Spanish version, and with a South Carolina
marketing firm for direct sales of Catholic goods. CatholicWeb.com
is another Florida venture that sets out to channel Catholic
publications, including this one, into parish Web sites.
There’s
a new breed of Catholic publishing at sites not affiliated
with the Catholic Church such as www.Beliefnet.com
(which often reprints articles from Catholic Web sites) and
even the Catholic sections of www.About.com
and www.Yahoo.com. Such
sites may not be authoritative sources for official Catholic
teaching, but they might bring countless thousands into contact
with the culture of Catholicism.
Many
of the newcomers seek profits. The rapid rise and fall of
multimillion-dollar IBelieve.com
makes one wonder how long some will last.
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