JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Associated Baptist Press, the nation’s first and only independent news service created by and for Baptists, is set to offer content through several new formats, its leaders announced Nov. 5.
The organization — based in Jacksonville, Fla., and with offices in Washington; Nashville, Tenn.; and Dallas and Waco, Texas — has recently launched information feeds on the popular social-networking services Facebook and Twitter . Beginning Nov. 9, ABP’s current e-mail product — a compilation of stories now sent several times a week — will be replaced by a news-and-content summary in a new format, to be delivered every business day. A revamped weekly e-mail news digest and a new breaking-news e-mail feature will also debut.
Subscriptions to the three e-mail communications are free of charge. Current subscribers will automatically receive the new or revamped e-mail products. New subscribers can sign up on ABP’s website.
“ABP is committed to delivering credible and compelling news about matters of faith through a variety of media platforms,” said David Wilkinson, ABP’s executive director. “Our new Twitter and Facebook accounts will also enable us to engage younger Christians — one of our strategic priorities. And our new e-mail products will provide better formats and a wider variety of products to our current e-mail subscribers as well as those who sign up for ABP’s e-mail products in the future.”
The daily news summary will be renamed ABPnews. Since it began providing its stories via e-mail, ABP has sent online subscribers the entire text of the stories in the body of the e-mail message. This resulted in lengthy messages. The new version will consist of a summary paragraph about each new story with a link to the full text on ABP’s website.
Each edition will offer links to new content at baptistnews.com, including news stories, features, article packages or series, columns, commentaries and aggregated links to news and opinion of interest published elsewhere on the Web. It will also be more visually appealing, including news photographs and graphics.
“The ABPnews format will provide easy access to much more information — and in a much more readable and visually appealing format,” said Robert Marus, ABP’s managing editor and Washington bureau chief. “And all of ABP’s content will continue to be offered free of charge.”
The other new product, ABP Breaking News Alerts, will alert subscribers via e-mail to significant or urgent stories as events warrant.
And ABPnews Weekly, the third e-mail product, is the new name for what had previously been called ABP Headlines. The document, produced and sent to Headlines subscribers every Wednesday, is a digest of the preceding week’s ABP content. It is designed so that church officials can print the document out and distribute it at midweek congregational events.
ABP’s Facebook fan page and Twitter feed provide links to ABP’s online content as soon as it is posted on the Web. Other information — such as invitations for story ideas, links to ABP work featured elsewhere in the media world and information about ABP-related events and programs — is also available. And both platforms provide forums for readers who are Facebook or Twitter members to engage in dialogue about stories with ABP writers, editors and fellow readers. Web viewers can also register online to post comments at the end of every story or opinion article on the main ABP site.
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