Ask the Editor: The voice of the listeners

MYRNA BROWN: Today is Friday, October 4th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Up next, Ask the Editor for October … and Paul Butler you read lots of mail … and it sounds a little like petition the editor this month. What’s that all about?

PAUL BUTLER: Well, Nick, last Friday you and Myrna announced the end of listener pre-rolls … and our podcast listeners have had a lot to say about it. There’s been much sackcloth and ashes and gnashing of teeth.

Jane Hyland lives in Charlotte, N.C., and she writes:

I had been hearing the nudges for more listeners to call in and let their voices be heard…Now I’m sorry I never responded. I’ve been listening every day for so many years, but have never called in. I’m going to miss those greetings from around the country and around the world!

Robin Lowe is from Texas but lives in Minnesota. She writes:

Like most of your listeners, I appreciate hearing national and world events from a biblical perspective. I am always impressed by the quality of the journalism.

I just wanted to point out that today when your reporters mentioned stopping the “pre-rolls“ I was disappointed. I have to tell you it’s one of my favorite parts. I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because we can often feel quite alone in our biblically-based views, so I love hearing the snippets from people around the US who are listening daily like myself.

I hope you won’t give up on those.

Listener Jonathan Phillips wrote something similar:

The listener pre-roll is unique among all of the podcasts I listen to, and it's something I look forward to every time I push "play". I appreciate the sense of community it brings, reminding me that I am joined by diverse brothers and sisters around the world, not just as I listen to the podcast, but also as I go through my day seeking to follow Christ. I've even had the experience of recognizing an old acquaintance, being prompted to pray for them, and getting in touch to let them know their pre-roll encouraged me.

I especially appreciated this comment from Tom Woloszyn:

Hi folks. Love the program. I especially appreciate the [pre]-rolls - they gave me someone to meet and someone to pray for. They were truly a way to connect with folks in the body of Christ.

And finally, one of our prolific prerollers … Paul Gebel of Edmond, Oklahoma, left us this message:

PAUL GEBEL: On the one hand, I'm disappointed as I love doing pre rolls, hearing them on the air, getting texts and emails from other WORLD listeners who had heard me, all because we listen to the same great program.

On the other hand, I commend you for not letting yourselves get into the trap of never changing your format because you're too in love with how things have always been done.

So, a sincere thanks, and I look forward to how you'll begin the show in this new season.

Well, for those who have sent us pre-rolls and for those who wish they had, thanks for letting us know how encouraging this part of our program has been for you.

Our goal is to keep the program fresh and interesting … and as Paul Gebel said, we’re not going to continue to do something just because it’s how we’ve always done it. And we did receive mail from those who agreed it was time to retire the prerolls.

And so while we are shaking things up a bit, we acknowledge that this program is about you, the listener … and so I want you to know that we’re looking for the right way to celebrate your different hometowns, interests, and personalities … and why you listen. We won’t promise that whatever we land on will last as long as the prerolls did … but you’ll soon start to hear from each other once again in the program, and we hope that you’ll enjoy it even more.

I’m Paul Butler.

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