There is danger when a ministry carries the responsibility of keeping Baptists informed. If people don’t like what you report, they sometimes take out their anger on you.
Don’t get me wrong. Serving the Lord through the state Baptist paper is a wonderful and important ministry. The paper helps form a sense of identity for Baptists of the state. It enlarges the missions vision. It teaches what Baptists believe and how Baptists work together in churches, associations and conventions.
The state Baptist paper provides biblically based insights into moral and ethical issues — both personal and societal. The state Baptist paper shares what God is doing through Baptists at home and around the world. It promotes what Baptists do together and offers guidance and resources for real life problems.
Fair and balanced
The state Baptist paper also reports the news in a fair and balanced manner.
Research proves that volunteer organizations like churches have to have a common base of reliable information in order to work together effectively. The state Baptist paper does just that. It is a trusted source of reliable news and information.
Baptist history demonstrates that a strong, vibrant state Baptist paper is a vital part of a cooperative church congregation and a healthy state convention. Serving in this ministry these several years has been a privilege and a pleasure.
But all of the good the state Baptist paper provides does not negate the tendency of some people (including some Baptists) to “shoot the messenger” when they don’t like the message.
Such actions raise questions about what type of communications channel Baptists want. Do Baptists want a state Baptist paper that accurately and reliably tries to tell the truth or do they prefer an organ that reaffirms what they already believe?
Debated stories
In other words, should the state Baptist paper “tell the truth and trust the people” as the old axiom says or should the publication sidestep issues for fear of upsetting someone?
Two major stories raised that question for The Alabama Baptist in 2016. One story related to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the other to national politics.
In June 2016 messengers to the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis voted overwhelmingly to call for a ban of displaying the Confederate flag. For many in Alabama, that was a hot-button
issue.
Reliable information
That story could have been omitted from the state Baptist paper but credibility is not earned by telling only “safe” stories. People do not believe a source that is afraid of telling the truth, even if the truth hurts.
The story could have been buried in the back of the publication in a small blurb most people would miss. But Baptists deserve news about Baptists from a Baptist source, not a secular outlet that does not know us or understand us.
At The Alabama Baptist we attempt to report news in a way that results in understanding. The story was put on the front page as the most important action of the annual meeting. Excerpts of what was said for and against the resolution were shared to provide context for the final decision. No matter one’s personal reaction to the story, readers had balanced, reliable information about the debate.
Verbal assault
The result of the story was verbal assault and cancellations from certain quarters. Some charged the paper, this writer and staff for personally assaulting Southern heritage through the resolution. Those willing to talk about the story (only a few of the callers and letter writers) seemed surprised when I told them I had not even attended the SBC annual meeting.
In some cases the explanation that the state Baptist paper’s mission was to report the news — good and bad — in a fair and balanced manner so readers would know what happened and why it happened fell on deaf ears. These Baptists disliked the story and that meant they disliked the state Baptist paper.
Presidential candidates
More recently statements surrounding both presidential candidates made national news. Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood comments threw the evangelical world into a tailspin. National leaders — including nationally recognized Baptist leaders — made news for and against Trump.
The prediction that there was no way for the state paper to win by covering this issue proved true. Still we decided the assignment given the paper was to cover important issues that impacted Baptists and this incident certainly qualified.
The paper did one story that wrapped up reactions for and against the candidate based on his statements. The story led with national leaders who supported Trump followed by comments from those who did not.
About a week later, the story broke about comments by Hillary Clinton staff members attacking some Christian believers. In the issue reporting the Trump story, we promised to follow with a story about the Clinton staffers’ comments and we did.
As predicted, verbal assaults and cancellations came from both political camps. The first week it was Trump supporters; two weeks after that it was Clinton supporters. Neither was interested in fair and balanced reporting. Neither was interested in how one story related to the other. Neither liked the story about their candidate and that meant they did not like the state Baptist paper.
Not a new problem
This is not a new problem. It happened during tensions between the state convention and cooperating colleges. It happened during debate over relationships of state convention ministries and SBC programs. It is likely to happen again.
Sometimes people look at one story and do not consider the paper’s total coverage of an issue. Despite all the good stories, one story considered inappropriate can result in “shooting the messenger.” That is not good for the individual reader, the state Baptist paper nor the cooperative missions and ministries which Baptist do.
This is not to defend every story. The state Baptist paper runs corrections when errors are made. Occasionally we have printed a second story about a topic when we worked from what proved to be inaccurate information.
Telling the truth
For the state Baptist paper staff, keeping Baptists informed is a Christian ministry combining our commitment to Christ with the best practices of professional journalism. The staff takes seriously the charge from the Alabama Baptist State Convention to “tell the truth and trust the people.” Telling the truth is of God. And we believe in Alabama Baptists enough to trust them with the news whether good or bad.
Hopefully Alabama Baptists also want this kind of state Baptist paper — one that informs for understanding and perspective, inspires for growth of Christian disciples and connects for missions and ministry.
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