Message retools website (unrestricted content)

By Staff, Baptist Message

ALEXANDRIA – A “new and improved” website greeted readers of the Baptist Message early in January.

In addition to all the articles and photos of the print edition of each biweekly issue of the Baptist Message, the online edition now provide expanded articles, web-only articles and additional photos.

“The new look is clean and sharp, with content that matches,” said Editor Kelly Boggs. “Its purpose remains the same: to tell the story of what God is doing through Southern Baptists in Louisiana and around the world.”

Boggs gave two reasons for the enhanced website: finances and content."We simply cannot afford to give our content away,” the editor said. “We made this decision to go to a pay platform almost a year ago, based in part on periodic phone calls I received from people cancelling their subscription to the Baptist Message because, they said, they were reading it online for free.

“An axiom in economics is that there is no free lunch. No business can give its products away for free,” Boggs continued. “While the Cooperative Program provides half our budget needs the other half comes from subscriptions and advertising.”

After an announcement on the Baptist Message website – www.baptistmessage.com – that stayed up for several months, full access was limited as of early January to subscribers only. Guests to the site can access only a limited amount of content, Boggs explained.

“Shortly after I made the decision that we needed to embrace a pay platform for the online edition of the paper, I saw a televised interview of several secular media leaders that included the Wall Street Journal and New York Post; the editors of these publications had come to the decision,” Boggs said. “Any business that gives its product away is operating an unsustainable business model. That interview served to confirm for me the decision I had made months earlier.”

“By late spring/early summer several newspapers announced that they would be moving toward a pay model for their websites,” the editor continued. “It seems to have dawned on newspapers a simple economic truth: you can’t stay in business if you give your product away.”

Everyone with a paid subscription has full access to the website; those with complimentary subscriptions to the print edition will need to purchase a $14 subscription, Boggs said. “When you think about $14 a year, that’s not much money,” Boggs said. “It is actually $1.16 a month or .26 cents a week. Many people spend many times that much each week consuming coffee or soft drinks.”

“Those serving on the mission field or the military can contact us for a very special rate,” the editor said. “We really want to work with them.”

Content

It’s evident from the newsletters and church bulletins that come to the Baptist Message that God is working through Louisiana Baptists to accomplish His Kingdom-building purpose, Boggs said. With nearly 1,600 Southern Baptist churches in the Louisiana Baptist family, only a spattering of the stories can be told within the confines of the print version of the newspaper.

“This enhanced website is going to allow us to do more,” the editor said. “More stories of what God is doing among His people in Louisiana; more photos; more ‘how-to’s’ for people and churches interested in adapting in their community the ministry being touted in the paper.”

The website has space for submissions by church members of what God is doing through their church and individuals in it; plus compilations of what’s being done in associations across the state; book, DVD and CD reviews; poetry and other writings by Louisiana Baptists; and for much more, such as crochet patterns for crosses that could be made for mission team members to pass out as a lingering witness, or doll patterns such as are made for youngsters in Honduras.

“There is also a comment feature whereby readers can offer feedback on any and all content,” Boggs said.

“Our goal at the Baptist Message, through our print edition and through www.baptistmessage.com, is to serve Louisiana Southern Baptists by drawing us closer to each other and to God,” Boggs said. “The more we know each other, the better we’ll work together in accomplishing God’s work: the expansion of God’s Kingdom.”