Biblical Recorder editor Chad Austin announced Tuesday (Jan. 2) that the North Carolina’s Baptist news source will continue its management agreement with the state contention that it announced in 2022.
“Although the landscape of journalism has changed dramatically over time, and especially in recent years, our commitment to being a trusted source of news and information for N.C. Baptists has not,” Austin wrote in an online editorial.
During the North Carolina Baptist annual meeting in November, Austin noted, messengers approved recommendations presented by a BR study committee “along with some related changes to the BR’s bylaws that will help ensure that the Biblical Recorder remains a trusted news source for N.C. Baptists for years to come.” At the request of the Biblical Recorder’s board of directors, a study committee was appointed in early 2023 by the state convention’s board of directors and explored the relationship between the BR and the state convention.
Going forward
“The overarching recommendation made by the study committee and unanimously endorsed by both the BR’s and state convention’s respective boards — and also endorsed by messengers — extends a temporary management agreement between the BR and the state convention that had been in place since July 2022 when I stepped into the role as managing editor,” Austin said.
“The temporary management agreement worked well,” he noted, “and both BR and state convention leadership believe that this long-term management agreement is in the best interests of the Recorder’s ministry to N.C. Baptists going forward.”
Under terms of the agreement, Austin said, the BR will retain its own board of directors — as well as its “autonomous status as a separate, but related entity to the state convention.” In addition, he added, both the state convention and the BR affirm and acknowledge the BR’s status and role as “an independent, news-gathering and reporting organization that maintains its editorial freedom under the agreement.”
“This new, long-term agreement should not change the steady stream of timely and trusted news coverage that you have come to expect from the BR,” he told readers. “Through our website at BRnow.org, social media, weekly email newsletter and printed magazine, we strive to bring you the latest news, events and happenings in N.C. Baptist life, as well as feature stories on people and ministries across North Carolina.”
Magazine to publish bimonthly
Beginning with the latest issue, the print edition of the Biblical Recorder magazine will be published bimonthly — with issues delivered in January, March, May, July, September and November.”
“While this is a slight reduction from eight to six issues per year,” Austin noted, “we are thankful to be able to continue to produce a quality printed magazine when many mainstream publications and other Baptist publications have gone completely digital.”
