And on Sept. 23, the Executive Committee of the General Assembly Mission Council approved the task force’s report – with one small but significant change.
The task force had recommended that the council “establish a secure stream of funding” for the news service, including consideration of whether it should get money from both the mission budget and per capita funding.
The change — suggested by council member Doug Megill of Pennsylvania — was to say that the council “seeks to establish a secure stream of funding for PNS if possible.”
Currently, the news service has a budget of $284,000 out of an overall budget for Communications and Funds Development of about $4 million. The task force determined that it’s not feasible for the news service to be considered financially self-sufficient.
But members of the Executive Committee also cautioned that, at a time of declining revenue overall, they may not be able to protect funding for the news service down the road even if the full council approves the task force’s recommendations later this week.
From a practical viewpoint, if the question arises of whether the PC(USA) should spend money to feed hungry children or to support the news service, “we weren’t so sure that the Presbyterian News Service would have its funding sustained,” said Karen Schmidt, the denomination’s deputy executive director for communications and funds development.
In a time of declining revenues, “I don’t know that any of our revenues is secure,” Megill said.
Both the per capita budget and the mission budget are under stress, said Joey Bailey, the denomination’s chief financial officer. “It isn’t like one (funding stream) is better than the other,” Bailey said.
As the 2011 and 2012 budgets take shape, all the denomination’s programs will be under tremendous scrutiny, he said. “Just add this to the list.”
Megill also raised questions about whether there’s a need for a journalistic source of news in the PC(USA). “Why do we need an independent news service funded by denominational funds?” he asked.
Schmidt responded that the news service is “not independent — we don’t use that word.” And Jerry Van Marter, director of the news service, said “I have never, ever, ever used the word independent to describe the Presbyterian News Service. … We work collaboratively, not independently. We are interdependent, not independent.”
Van Marter said the news service attempts to provide “service journalism” — providing links to resources where readers can go for more information.
Despite those qualifications, however, some level of “objective reporting” by the news service is important, Schmidt said, to ensure transparency and accountability in the church, “and to assure the truth is told. … There is still a need for us to establish trust with the greater church.” Sometimes, she said, the news service tells the stories “we would rather not have told.”
The task force also proposes a revising the editorial guidelines established for the news service in 1995. The revised guidelines say the news service should adhere to “the highest standards of professional reporting” and have an identity that’s separate from denominational public relations efforts. The guidelines also stress both editorial freedom and editorial responsibility.
The revised editorial guidelines state that the news service should follow the journalistic standards set by the Associated Church Press and the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists.
The task force also wants to establish an editorial board for the new service. That board would consist of three members of the General Assembly Mission Council, selected by the chair of the council, plus two Presbyterians with expertise in journalism, selected by the editor of the news service. The editorial board would provide “advice and counsel” to the news service and would report to the General Assembly Mission Council’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee did not discuss that provision at all.
The full council is expected to vote on the task force report on Sept. 25.
