Tom Terry

, which became one of the most popular TV stations in Mongolia under his management. He is also the author of several self-published books. [cite web
title= Eagle TV Becomes Most Watched News Channel
url=http://www.moninfo.org/content/view/104/8/lang,en/
author=Luke Distelhorst
publisher = MonInfo
date= 2006-07-25]

Early career

Terry began his broadcast career in 1979 as an intern with KHYT radio in Tucson, Arizona. Shortly after becomeing a born-again Christian in 1982, he became a weekend radio announcer at KVOI in Tucson where he quickly ascended to the weekday morning show and position of Operations Manager in 1983.

KLYT

In 1988 Terry moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to take the position of Operations Manager at KLYT. Low ratings and audience response drove Terry and General Manager Randy Rich to make radical changes to KLYT’s format and outreach programs. Those changes restored the station's popularity and respect among radio stations and parachurch ministries in New mexico.

Among KLYT’s outreach programs was the anti-drug initiative “Yes to Life” (YTL). Station manager and former NFL player Randy Rich delivered two to three anti-drug messages a week in public schools statewide for the program. Terry manageed the initiativew for more than six years. Terry and Rich soon formed a partnership with the D.A.R.E. program, which helped to further deepen the YTL's influence. “Yes to Life,” became the springboard used by KLYT to bring the station’s live broadcasts onto public school campuses where students often received print materials, and participated in radio programming advocating Evangelical Christianity. The “Yes to Life” program was eventually forced out of Albuquerque Public Schools (two years after Terry’s departure from KLYT) on the grounds that it violated the separation of church and state.

In 1991 Terry became involved in the controversy surrounding the showing of the movie The Last Temptation of Christ to gifted students at Albuquerque's La Cueva High School. Though Terry's interviews with the teacher who showed the movie did not result in any curriculum changes, the episode launched Terry into conservative social commentary and politics. KLYT radio was used as a platform to advance a socially conservative political message. Within weeks of the controversy Terry launched the live 5-minute twice-daily “Commenterry,” during KLYT’s morning and evening drive time. “Tom Terry’s Daily Commenterry” quickly became a highly listened-to program by Christian conservatives.

In 1993 Terry’s daily radio commentary came to an abrupt end following on-air comments he made about the biblical figures of kings Saul and David in comparison to the election between George Bush and Bill Clinton. Pastors with Albuquerque mega-church, Victory Love Fellowship demanded an accounting from Terry for his supposed endorsement of Bill Clinton for president. In a meeting with Senior Pastor Rob Carman and KLYT management, Terry protested stating that the church’s leadership misunderstood the broadcast and that he did not endorse Clinton, that in fact he opposed Clinton’s presidency on ideological and moral grounds. Terry's assurances were not enough. Carman threatening to stop the church's significant financial support of KLYT if Terry’s broadcasts continued. Terry’s commentaries were cancelled a week later.

Cutting Edge Magazine

Shortly after launching Terry’s daily commentary, Terry was named as editor of the newly created [http://www.thomasterry.com/cuttingedge Cutting Edge Magazine] . He served as editor for four years. Cutting Edge greatly expanded Terry’s influence among New Mexico’s social conservatives. The magazine produced articles on a variety of controversial subjects including abortion, AIDS, education policy, medical ethics, the welfare state, and abuses by social service workers. Cutting Edge quickly became known as the print-platform for Terry’s views on social and political issues.

Terry’s most controversial issue of Cutting Edge was a 20,000 word article on gun control. The magazine cover featured a pistol with large bold letters, “ [http://terrycom.net/blog/staticpages/index.php?page=20061108020726925 Why you Should Own One of These] .” Within days of release more than 25,000 copies of the magazine flew off store shelves. Terry’s article earned him the ire of some New Mexico lawmakers including a popular State Senator who accused Terry of advocating violence and vigilantism.

During his time at KLYT Terry also briefly served as producer of the nationally syndicated radio program, “Calvary Connection,” with Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque pastor, Skip Heitzig. Terry finally left KLYT in December 1995 to pursue media missionary work with Campus Crusade for Christ, International.

The Mission Field

In 1997 Terry joined the President’s Office of Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. He worked on national syndication of the radio program, “WorldChangers Radio.” In 2001, Terry's area of specialization moved to the Islamic world where he aided the launch of a radio project sharing the Gospel with Muslims.

During his time with Campus Crusade Terry also launched a personal Internet project, Aboutisa.com, targeting Muslims with the Gospel. The site drew thousands of visitors each month, eventually becoming a target of ire among Muslims posting in chat rooms and forums on the Internet. The site also served as the download point for five booklets about Islam and Christianity authored by Terry, the most popular being, “"Does Allah Love Me?".” The booklet appeared on numerous websites devoted to Christian-Muslim dialog and evangelism. He abandoned the project in 2002 when took up residence in Mongolia.

Eagle TV - Mongolia

Terry left Campus Crusade for Christ in July 2002, and took over the management of Eagle TV in Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar. At the time, Eagle Television was operated on terrestrial Channel 8 by Mongolian Broadcasting Company (MBC). MBC was a joint venture of the American nonprofit, AMONG Foundation, and Mongolia Media Corporation (MMC).

The station became both successful and controversial with uncensored live commentary from viewers and live international news coverage. Despite its success with viewers, infighting between the shareholders caused it to shutdown and lose its broadcasting license in spring 2003. Terry’s tenure at MBC lasted only six months.

Terry remained in Mongolia during the next year, employed by the former TV station’s American shareholder, AMONG Foundation, in hopes of re-launching the now defunct operation. After the Eagle TV's closure, AMONG Foundation formed Eagle Broadcasting Company, [Mongol News, "Eagle's Staff Got Paid," May 2, 2003.] appointing Terry as Managing Director, and charging him with re-launching Eagle TV as a cable TV channel. About six months later, the new Eagle TV began broadcasting on SANSAR Cable as Mongolia’s first all-news cable channel with uncensored public commentary during live newscasts.

Negotiations between the former business partners resulted in a new agreement in September 2005, and a new boadcasting license. The agreement and license gave the Eagle Broadcasting Company exclusive use of channel 8 for ten years, and exercising exclusive control over all television content during that period. [Across Pacific Magazine, [http://across.co.nz/MongoliaChristianTV.html "Eagle Television Begins Broadcasting on Channel 8"] , October 18, 2005. ]

Publications

* "American Genesis" (nonfiction, history) - self-published e-book, 1992, 2001
* "When Shadows Dream: Twilight" (fiction) - self-published at iUniverse, 2005, ISBN 0-595-34494-1
* "Faith and Freedom" (nonfiction) - self-published at Xulon Press, 2005, ISBN 1-59781-725-2
* "City of Heaven" (science fiction) - self-published at iUniverse, 2008, ISBN 0-595-51251-8

References

External links

* [http://www.thomasterry.com Tom Terry's blog]
* [http://eagle-tv.mn Eagle Television]
* [http://amongfoundation.com AMONG Foundation]
* [http://www.m88.org M88 (former KLYT radio)]