wfn.org | Associated Church Press honors Epis

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

May 9, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1755
Associated Church Press honors Episcopal/Anglican publications

by James Solheim
        (ENS) At its annual meeting in Chicago April 20-23, the
Associated Church Press (ACP), an ecumenical organization of almost
200 Christian publications, honored Episcopal and Anglican news
organizations in North America during its awards banquet.
        The Anglican Journal, published by the Anglican Church of
Canada, was chosen by the judges as the best national or international
newspaper. In honoring it as the Best in Class, the judge called it "a
controlled, classy design, a sophisticated publication that says, `Read
me.'" 
        In Best in Class category, Kanuga News, newsletter of Kanuga
Conference Center, received an Award of Merit, the second highest
award, for ACP newsletters, and The Virginia Episcopalian, newspaper
of the Diocese of Virginia, received an honorable mention for regional
newspapers.
        The Journal also won an Award of Excellence--the highest award-
-for a feature article, and for front page of a newspaper, and an Award
of Merit for editorial courage for an editorial by David Harris.
        Episcopal Life, the national newspaper of the Episcopal Church
USA, won Awards of Excellence for an editorial and also a news story
by Ed Stannard, in the category of reader response and for newspaper
graphics. It received Awards of Merit for in-depth coverage, for
department, and for letters to the editor.
        Episcopal News Service received an Award of Excellence for a
photograph from Northern Ireland and Awards of Merit for a news story
by James Thrall and for coverage of a meeting of Lutheran and Episcopal
bishops by James Solheim.
        Herb Gunn, editor of the Diocese of Michigan's newspaper, The
Record, won Awards of Excellence for editorial courage and for a
department.

Senator--`Dare to lead'
        "Dare to lead," said retired Senator Paul Simon of Illinois in his
challenging keynote address. "Be specific in your calls for living the
faith." He argued that "the proliferation of ideas" is important because it
"strengthens the fabric of democracy."
        Simon decried what he saw as "governing by polls," reminding
his audience that only 14 percent of Americans supported the Marshall
Plan to rebuild Europe following World War II. "We are living in a
culture of pandering" to special interest groups. He urged church
journalists to "tell the stories, in personal terms, not statistics, in terms
that are real. You must get across the idea that humanity is not
divisible."
        "As journalists working for the church you have a tough job
getting the word out, being stewards of the mysteries of God," said Roy
Larsen, veteran religion editor of the Chicago Sun Times. He cited his
own list of "lively virtues" to help improve journalism, including
"freshness" through stories that show "the eternal God is new every
day," "context" that demonstrates to readers how a story affects them,
and "simplicity that goes beyond sophistication" by avoiding what he
called "church speak" aimed at church bureaucrats, not people in the
pew.
        "True journalism is its own kind of religion," said Carol Marin,
in describing her work as an award-winning television journalist in
Chicago. "You function within a code . . . a basic conviction to tell the
truth as well as you can."
        "The coverage of religion waxes and wanes, like other coverage,"
she observed. "Sometimes it is a fusion of a variety of issues," she said,
citing the gradual opening up of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
Chicago under the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. Faced with the
controversial closing of church schools, and a charge of sexual abuse, he
"began to open wider and deeper into the community--he reached out to a
wide variety of people," she said.
        Marin decried "pressures from management to commercialize"
television coverage and accept compromises that will curb a free press.
(She resigned her prominent position as anchor shortly after the meeting,
to protest the station's hiring an afternoon talk show host noted for his
"tabloid style.")
        During its business meeting, ACP members discussed a proposal
for a major shift in identity that would move its membership categories
from publications to individuals. A task force had recommended opening
membership to freelancers and electronic journalists, but after a lively
discussion, members asked the board for more clarification on the
implications.  Roger Kahle, managing editor at The Lutheran, the
magazine of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was elected to
a two-year term as president of the ACP. David Harris, editor of The
Anglican Journal, was one of five members elected to the board.
  
--James Solheim is director of news and information for the Episcopal
Church.