Editorial

The tagline on the cover of The Mennonite reads, “a forum for the voices of Mennonite Church USA.” Over my four years as assistant editor, I have seen how offering content online and inviting reader feedback works to carry out that mission.

As a church we are called to value the input of all voices and offer opportunities for people to share experiences, raise concerns and engage in dialogue. This process often means meeting people where they are—a concept also applied to journalism these days.

Rather than a reporter only sending messages through what they report on, the journalistic process now acts as a two-way street. We try to meet people where they are through experimenting with social networking. As I learned in a Poynter Institute online seminar, social networking allows reporters and readers to interact on Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where readers already spend their time. These sites provide a place for readers to give feedback on content, ask questions and even create an online community among readers.

When I began my position, I saw Facebook as a short-term, passing fad. I was skeptical of managing a Facebook fan page for The Mennonite. However, our readers respond to the articles I place on Facebook more than anywhere else. Fortunately, these users model the type of safe space for a forum that we strive for in other areas of the church. Most of our users who anonymously post comments online exercise respect and restraint.

This is not the case for many publications. According to William Grueskin of Columbia’s journalism school, while the ability to make anon-­ ymous postings has value, “a lot of comment boards turn into the equivalent of a barroom brawl, with … participants having blood-alcohol levels of 0.1 or higher. People who might have something useful to say are less willing to participate … where the tomatoes are being thrown.”

Our readers post such thoughtful comments, we are now considering publishing a selection in the print version of The Mennonite—as Newsweek and some newspapers have begun doing. This could further connect our online readers and print readers and extend the forum.

Facebook’s credibility may slip, and it may be replaced, but we are in the business of experimenting with anything affordable that offers our content to the widest audience of readers, connects us to those readers and creates forums for them to interact with content and each other.

Despite the buzz around social networking, our print magazine redesign also presented an invigorating update for me. I’m not alone in my enthusiasm; we also saw an increase in the number of people subscribing to The Mennonite over a three-month period. Readers and writers elevate the value of the printed page over online material, too. At times, when we tell a writer we prefer to run their article online instead of the print magazine, they respond with disappointment, and that’s understandable. However, we often select the media that reaches the most readers in the least amount of time, especially for time-sensitive stories.

Six years ago, as a student at Goshen (Ind.) College, I wrote this in an article published in the Feb. 1, 2005, issue of The Mennonite: “I hope to [serve] by giving a voice to the voiceless and providing a way to bring connections in a church community.”

To my pleasant surprise in 2010, online forums like Facebook function as one step toward that goal.

Editor’s note: The address of our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/TheMennonite