IBS to Distribute More New Testaments via Newspapers
As readers praised and criticized this past Sunday's delivery of New Testaments along with home-delivered copies of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, IBS confirmed that it wants to do similar distributions with other newspapers.
As readers praised and criticized this past Sunday's delivery of New Testaments along with home-delivered copies of The Gazette in Colorado Springs, the International Bible Society (IBS) confirmed that it wants to do similar distributions with other newspapers.
"We have had a very long history of evangelism going back to 1809," IBS's public-relations manager, Judy Billings, told New York-based Editor & Publisher (E&P) yesterday. "We're always looking for innovative channels to get God's word into the hands of people who need it the most."
According to E&P, Billings said IBS received a number of responses yesterday from Gazette readers happy to see the New Testaments. "It was a Christmas gift," she said of the 200-plus-page, donation-funded paperback, which was customized with a cover photo of Colorado Springs, testimony from local residents, and more.
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E&P reports that all 90,000 Gazette home subscribers received the New Testament in a pocket of the plastic bag their newspaper came in on Sunday.
However, not all reactions were positive.
The Gazette's vice president of sales and marketing, Susan Kelly-Gilbert, told E&P that the paper has received about two dozen calls and e-mails, with about half pleased to get the Bibles and half not so pleased. However, Kelly-Gilbert said that, to her knowledge, few or no readers complained after reading an Oct. 16 Gazette article regarding the then-future distribution .
She added that The Gazette is always offering information that may be of interest to some readers and not of interest to others. "That's what newspapers do," said Kelly-Gilbert, who was not aware of any canceled Gazette subscriptions at this point.
E&P reported that the Gazette--which puts laundry detergent, America Online discs, and other paid-distribution items in its home-delivery bags--felt the New Testaments were acceptable under its guidelines. "We're in the distribution business, and we take various things to distribute," said Gazette President and Publisher Bob Burdick, as quoted in the Oct. 16 article. "Just because we distribute something doesn't mean we endorse it or don't endorse it."
According to the Colorado Springs Independent, the IBS paid The Gazette $36,000 to distribute the New Testaments and run a full-page ad. The Independent also reported that IBS is currently in discussions to include customized New Testaments with The Denver Post -- and that the society also has a wish list of papers in cities such as Seattle, Nashville, and Santa Rosa, Calif. Billings declined to say which papers the IBS has approached or will approach, and a Denver Post spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.
The Tennessean of Nashville, however, has said that it would not distribute New Testaments with its newspaper if asked by the International Bible Society.
