by Keith Bassham
“Tribune files for Chapter 11.” Did you see that headline a couple of weeks ago? I knew, of course, that the story was about the Chicago Tribune, but it still caused me to sit up a bit.
I thought about taking a good photo of a regular newspaper front page with that headline (all the major papers carried it) and framing it for my office. Not that I rejoice in the troubles of the Chicago business that runs the Tribune newspaper there, but just as a sort of reminder to me that all flesh is grass. Life in the natural world economy carries no guarantee, and what few probabilities there were for financial success have been rendered less so by the current situation.
And, as you probably know, the Chicago Tribune is not the only publication in trouble. In the same city, the Chicago Sun-Times is cutting both the staff and the physical paper itself. Readers there have found the paper has shrunk in size by one inch to save newsprint costs. A few weeks ago, the century-old Christian Science Monitor newspaper announced their weekday publishing schedule would cease. They will continue doing a weekend edition, but during the week the paper will be accessible only on the Internet. Meanwhile, Time Inc. (Time magazine, Fortune, People, and Sports Illustrated) said they were cutting 600 jobs. Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the country, will do likewise, laying off about 10 percent of its workforce. Back in the middle of October, you could have bought TV Guide for $1 — no, I’m not talking about a single copy of the magazine — the whole business of the print magazine was sold for $1. The only way some papers will stay in print is by making cuts in production and staff.
Blame the economy, falling ad revenue, lack of readership, distrust of the mainstream media, or whatever. The fact is papers have fallen on hard times, and Christian papers feel the pinch too. We here at the Tribune make our own small adjustments when necessary, but I am happy to say pastors and churches and others receiving the Tribune continue to see the value of their monthly window on Fellowship news and information. And they demonstrate it with their steadfast support. That is why, with all the bad news going around in the publishing world, I continue to be optimistic about the Tribune and our future. And here are some other reasons:
- The Baptist Bible Fellowship still needs the Tribune. No other part of our Fellowship can regularly be in so many places, so often, and so economically, as the Tribune can. And while there are other fine Christian magazines and papers, there is only one publication in the world with the primary emphasis on OUR churches and OUR preachers, and that is the Tribune. We promote the doctrines and the values of the Baptist Bible Fellowship in a way no other publication can.
- The Tribune connects people in and out of the Fellowship. Besides being a news source for people in the Fellowship, the Tribune is the public face for the BBFI. The National Church Planting Office receives most of their inquiries about church planting from outside the BBFI because of the Tribune, which is received by about 11,000 different churches. Add to that a recent Lifeway study showing that Christian leaders still rely upon and prefer print as their primary source for ministry-related news, you can see the importance of the Tribune in our Fellowship’s outreach.
- The Tribune supports the messages from our churches’ pulpits with feature articles about doctrinal, moral, social, and political issues. When you distribute the Tribune at church, your evangelism efforts are promoted with news stories about churches reaching their own communities. Church people get to know the missionaries and their families a world away, and they are reminded we are involved in a great enterprise.
Because of the services we perform, once a year I ask our churches and pastors to commit to the February Tribune Offering. We’re not panicky. Our bills and staff are paid on time. We operate on a carefully-managed budget (what a concept). And if our past experience is any indication, we expect to be here, serving our Lord and this Fellowship this same time next year.
So I urge pastors and churches to participate when you receive the letter and card asking for your help. This is one time when I think I prefer to stay out of the headlines.