ARKANSAS BAPTIST NEWSMAGAZINE INC

The present Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine, Inc., began in 1901 after the Arkansas Baptist State Convention renounced the Arkansas Baptist newspaper of 1887 as its official organ. The state newspaper was first named The Baptist Advance, but later changed to the Arkansas Baptist in 1933. “Newsmagazine” was added to the title in January 1960, to give description to the nature of the publication and to distinguish its mail from that of Arkansas Baptist Hospital, which was often addressed as “Arkansas Baptist.” Today, the newspaper is known simply as the Arkansas Baptist News (ABN). In the 1980s, under the leadership of longtime Editor J. Everett Sneed, the ABN became one of the five agencies of the state convention and began operating under its own board of directors. Today, the ABN continues to serve Arkansas Baptists faithfully with a print readership of about 50,000 and a significant online and social media presence through arkansasbaptist.org, Facebook and Twitter – stretching well beyond the borders of the state and throughout the Southern Baptist Convention. As the publishing industry has changed, so has the ABN, with the newspaper today embracing a healthy combination of news content, special sections and advertising both in print and online. The ABN exists today due to the faithful support of Arkansas Baptists throughout its 115-year history. While not all churches or members subscribe to the newspaper, all ABSC-member churches support the ABN with gifts given through the Cooperative Program, which makes up 43.6 percent of the ABN’s operating budget.