The church must report its own news, good and bad

One of the cornerstones of a free and democratic society is a healthy and free news media. The editors of the New York Times write of it with concern about the tension between transparency and national security. It is not an easy issue to grasp in all its dimensions. Watching crackdowns in China and Iran this year has given me a greater appreciation for living in a country where information is freely shared.

We in the church wrestle with the challenge of openness and transparency as well. In our age, institutions are distrusted and leaders are viewed skeptically. An open and transparent church, I believe, needs a news service that not only tells the church's positive stories but is able to report news that might make us uncomfortable at times. In their wisdom, the leaders of The United Methodist Church in the past provided for this important function.

It is, in my opinion, one of our great strengths.

In my role as publisher of United Methodist News Service, I am often called on to defend or explain a decision to report on a sensitive issue. You can take your pick of issues - homosexuality, church trials, constitutional amendments. People often ask me why the church's news agency would disclose information about disagreements or problems in the church.

The answer is simple: Reporting the unvarnished truth is our responsibility to the church and to you. It's a core value. Out of our collective experience as a people of faith our forefathers and foremothers determined it is necessary for the good of the whole. This is a remarkable stand for integrity and truthfulness.

Being a truly open church requires being transparent about what goes on in our congregations, conferences and agencies. It means being accountable, from the local level right up to the Council of Bishops. The absence of accountability leaves room for a host of problems, ranging from complacence to the misuse of power.

Those who formulated this reporting role also decided it was better for the church to report its own news than to cede that role to outside entities.

As a result, The United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline provides for a newsgathering function that is editorially independent. This is essential for several reasons.

Having a news agency with the ability to report both the good and bad news generates a high level of credibility for the church itself. It's a sign that the church holds itself accountable and strives to be transparent in its work. A news service without that freedom would essentially be doing public relations - an important function but one that is distinct from news reporting - and that symbol of transparency and accountability would be diminished.

An editorially independent news service also means the church is the primary source of news about itself, so the church is telling its story in a way that is journalistically sound and credible. If the church didn't report its own news, then it would be defined by outside media that don't understand the church as well. Other media also have less stake in how the church's stories are told and, for that matter, whether they are told at all.

The presence of a healthy news service makes a statement that the church believes it has stories to tell about how its members are making a difference in the world and how people's lives are being transformed through the church's role as the body of Christ. For a denomination the size of The United Methodist Church, those stories are limitless. Moreover, we find that nearly every major news story has a potential United Methodist angle, and the stories of individual people living their faith journeys in interesting ways are innumerable.

Our editorial standards are consistent with the best practices and standards of the news profession. Our staff comprises professionally trained journalists who have had experience working in secular media. We apply the same news values to our work as our secular counterparts, with an additional sensibility that our role in the church brings. That means that while we use the same criteria in determining what stories are newsworthy, we also make allowances for stories that might be very important to some segments of our audience but that wouldn't excite a secular reporter.

Our stories are largely a mixture of news reports and human-interest features on how the church and individuals are making a difference in the world. They are stories that can make you laugh, cry, pray or take action. If we are doing our job, some of our stories will occasionally make you squirm or even make you mad.

As we move forward into a new era of reporting through social media, I am excited about being even more engaged with our audiences. I invite you to engage with us as well via e-mail, comments on our story pages and posts on our Facebook page. Let us know how our stories resonate with you, and let's be in conversation.