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ELCA NEWS SERVICE May 1, 2007 Significant News from the ELCA News Service This week the ELCA News Service will head in a new direction. Much of what we'll be doing is the result of a recent research study of our work, in which key church leaders and representatives from selected secular news organizations responded with some important suggestions. As a result of their comments, we've made some changes to better serve the interests of the ELCA: + Story length: Most routine news stories will now be considerably shorter. We will also be writing some feature- length stories for specific audiences and publications. Most feature-length stories will be posted and distributed through the ELCA News Service. + Story emphasis: Our research has told us that readers want to know much more about the mission and ministry of the ELCA and less about its conferences and meetings! So we're not going to report much about these kinds of meetings anymore. Instead, we will focus our reporting on how the people of this church are living out the mission and ministry of the ELCA in their daily lives. We will continue to report on this church's key legislative meetings, such as the Church Council and Churchwide Assembly. + Storytelling: We expect to tell more of this church's stories in a variety of forms other than print. This includes more use of audio, video and photography. + Serving congregations and other ministries: Our research shows that we must invest more time assisting congregations and local ministries with media relations. That includes providing specific assistance to help write and place news releases in local media. We will also invest more of our time in media relations for the churchwide organization. + Improved Web navigation: Look for some changes in the ELCA News Service Web pages, as we work to improve navigation. As always, I invite your comments and suggestions. We're eager to assist you in your ministry, and we thank you for your partnership. John R. Brooks Director, ELCA News Service ELCA Communication Services