Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300084
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARJORIE MAYFIELD LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fundamentalist officials of the Southern Baptist Convention asked Al Shackleford, director of the Baptist Press based in Nashville, and Dan Martin, news editor, to resign quietly or be "dealt with harshly," Shackleford and Martin said. The two made the threats public and have not resigned.
Moderate editors at The Biblical Recorder in Raleigh and the Religious Herald in Richmond predicted the end of objective coverage from what has been their leading source for national news on Southern Baptist affairs.
"It means we've got to find a reliable source of Baptist news at the national level, because we can no longer trust Baptist Press. . . . I consider it a great tragedy," said R.G. Puckett of The Biblical Recorder, circulation 80,000, one of 38 Southern Baptist state papers using stories from Baptist Press.
Puckett said the firing attempt came as no surprise after the fundamentalists' 12th consecutive victory June 12 in Southern Baptist Convention elections.
Fundamentalists have been increasingly unhappy with Baptist Press coverage of a moderate-fundamentalist struggle.
Julian Pentecost, editor of the Religious Herald, circulation 36,000 across Virginia, said his reaction is "something of a combination of shock and the first stages of grief."
State editors will try to work out an alternative arrangement, such as swapping stories among themselves, "to assure Southern Baptists the kind of coverage to which they are accustomed," Pentecost said.
But T.C. Pinckney, an Alexandria fundamentalist, painted a different picture. Pinckney said he publishes his own occasional newsletter, the Baptist Banner, because reporting from the Baptist Press as well as from state Baptist newspapers has been biased in favor of the moderates in the 12-year struggle.
"I think anybody on either side - anyone who is objective in their views - would realize that Baptist Press has consistently favored one side of the controversy, and it's not my side," Pinckney said.
Pinckney is a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, but said he was not consulted about the Baptist Press action.
The Baptist Press, established in 1947, supplies news on Baptist affairs to state Baptist newspapers whose combined circulation is 1.8 million, as well as to secular reporters and religion specialists.
"The service's daily news report about religious affairs was widely recognized by journalism specialists as the most thorough and objective denominational news operation in the country," said an Associated Press story Tuesday.
A story released by The Baptist Press said the Executive Committee's officers had ordered Shackleford's and Martin's removal the day after national convention elections in New Orleans. The officers do not have authority themselves to fire the pair, however. That action is expected when the Executive Committee meets in September.
Martin said Wednesday that neither he nor Shackleford has decided how to respond. "I'm 51 years old; I've got to figure out what I'm going to do for a living," Martin said. "I'm proud of the job I've done for Baptist Press. . . . When an issue happened, we tried to quote both sides. We've tried to steer a course down the middle."
by CNB