In the Jan. 11 ABP story “IMB seeks removal of blogging trustee, accuses Wade Burleson of 'broken trust,'” the article incorrectly reported that the International Mission Board's new practice of getting trustee approval for news releases about trustee actions was approved by the board. In fact, staff members said, the practice was initiated by the IMB staff in consultation with the trustee chair.
To correct the error, please replace the last four paragraphs with the following:
In a related development, the trustees were told the IMB's communications office will now clear any stories about trustee actions with the board's chair or someone he designates.
The action is in response to a dispute over last November's vote count — which was taken by a show-of-hands — to approve the prayer-language restriction. The initial story distributed by the IMB reported a vote of 25-18. Some trustees later challenged that count, claiming a more decisive 50-15 count. The original story was later removed from the IMB's web site.
“We were trying to decide how not to get in that situation again,” IMB spokesman Van Payne said in explaining the new policy about news releases. “The trustee chairman will get a look at trustee stories before they are released.”
“Showing the chairman stories about board meetings before their release is a staff process worked out in consultation between senior staff and the chairman,” Payne told Associated Baptist Press.
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