Ask the Editor: Ending with the Word

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, February 3rd. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next, Ask the Editor. Today, WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler responds to a concern that many listeners have raised over the last month, and it may even be a concern you’ve had but haven’t expressed.

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Since the first of the year, we’ve received many notes like this one:

You used to end the broadcast with the reminder that this is God's world…is the decision to follow the words from the Word with an advertisement a financial one? It is certainly a jarringly painful one. Please go back to that reading.
— BP

Here’s another one from a long-time listener:

Your program and team are amazing and I am grateful to have a source for biblically aligned and presented news…You recently made a change to put advertising at the end of your podcast…for me, it has not been a good change, replacing what used to be a few minutes of quiet reflection on the daily bible verse with a disruptive distraction. Please consider changing this back.
— BW

And one more…

Hey y'all, we are WORLD subscribers and financial supporters! Being accustomed to ending the episode with [Mary or] Myrna's scripture reading and “go now in grace and peace,” I find this new support message to be a more abrupt way to end the episode and would like to see you revert to your previous practice. I will also say that I am enjoying the scripture excerpts from the ESV One-year Bible plan and the inclusion of the scripture reference.
— BK

There have been other notes like these. So first of all, thank you to everyone who wrote in with similar feedback.

We have a high view of God’s Word at WORLD. We aim for Biblical objectivity in what news we cover, and in how we cover it. And we’re glad that so many of you understand and support that mission.

So, let me begin by saying that we have heard you! We are eliminating the closing sponsorship spot, and will once again end our program with a scripture selection as the final word each day.

Now some of you raised the question of why sponsors are even necessary given that we ask directly that you support the program financially. Our twice a year grassroots giving drives provide an opportunity for readers and listeners to support WORLD and we set a big goal each time but you need to know it’s less than 20% of our annual budget.

That means we need additional sources of income to cover the difference. Sponsorships on this program, and digital and print advertising bring in some of that—these are ministries and organizations that believe in the work we’re doing and want you to know it.

We do limit the number of sponsor mentions in each episode—and we try to keep each spot break to under thirty seconds … so that you can get back to the news of the day quickly. If you listen to many podcasts, you know how rare that is!

But I’d like for you to know that our sponsors are not just advertisers trying to make a buck. They believe in our mission and want to help us succeed. They provide a stable source of income to accomplish that mission. So I’m grateful for them. They are not a necessary evil.

They believe Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires is more important today than ever before. And they want to make sure our news coverage gets into more hands, eyes, ears, and hearts of people like you.

And so that’s why they help to make this program and our many other products possible. But you are our primary supporters and so it seems fitting that yours are the first words on this program each day. And from here on, when we close with Scripture and wish you grace and peace, those will be the last words you hear.

I’m Paul Butler.

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