Guest Editorial: Times have changed, but the Standard is still worthy of your trust

Writing an editorial for the Baptist Standard is a daunting task. I thought so when I sat at my computer to write my first one as editor almost 28 years ago, and it is no less daunting as I attempt it again.

Speaking to Texas Baptists is humbling. Nevertheless, when Editor Eric Black asked me to write two guest editorials while he is on sabbatical leave, it was easy to say “yes.” I’ve missed you, Texas Baptists.

I retired from the editorship of the Standard Dec. 31, 1998. For 23 years, the paper had been my home. I was associate editor almost 20 years before my three years as editor. It seemed I spent a lifetime in these columns of type; now, I’ve been retired from the job longer than I held it.

Some may recall that many of the editorials I wrote were personal in nature, drawn from my life experiences. These two editorials will follow that template.

Early days with the Standard

I was a professional journalist for 56 years, 46 of them spent in religious journalism because I felt a clear call from God to use my time and whatever reporting and editing skills I had to further his kingdom. I loved every minute of it, even when I was writing about some of the most difficult issues Baptists have ever faced. I couldn’t wait to go to work every day.

I came to the Standard as associate editor for John Jeter Hurt Jr. At the time the Standard probably had three times the circulation of any other state Baptist paper. When Presnall H. Wood succeeded Hurt in 1978, it grew even further, reaching almost 400,000 with the help of State Missions Commission Director Charles McLaughlin, who urged directors of associational missions to encourage churches to send the Standard to every family.

The Standard was a great communications tool for Texas Baptists and thousands of copies went to leaders in many other states and foreign countries. Many associations and almost 400 churches used the front and back covers and an inside page to print their local news.

That all began to change in the mid-1970s when the U.S. Postal Service began a multi-step postal rate increase for second class mail, which included the Baptist Standard. For 60 years the subscription price for the Standard had been $2 per year, but higher postage costs meant higher subscription prices.

Controversy and circulation shift

When the price began to be more visible, churches looking for more money for their programs began to hear, “Let’s just send it to those who want it,” when they should have been hearing, “Let’s send it to every family, unless they tell us they don’t want it.”

Two other factors contributed to a subscription decline so that by the time I became editor 20 years later, circulation had slipped to about 200,000.

First, the Southern Baptist controversy no doubt had a detrimental effect. People got tired of reading about it. Some state Baptist papers printed less and less about it or buried it on back pages.

Presnall Wood and I discussed at length what we should do about our coverage. Our assignment, we noted, was to cover the news of importance to Baptists. We kept news of the controversy front and center.

Second, interest in print media was fading fast as people turned to television and brief snatches of the news for whatever information they wanted. When I was young, my parents took both the morning and afternoon editions of the Amarillo newspaper and spent hours poring over them every day. Those days are gone forever.

One of the five daily newspapers I worked for before I got into religious journalism had a staff of dozens and a Sunday circulation of 80,000. I found out recently the staff is down to four people and circulation is just over 10,000.

When the circulation of the Standard was almost 400,000, it compared with that of The Dallas Morning News. The Standard ceased publication of a print edition December 2012, but it now is published weekly online. The Dallas Morning News had a circulation of its print edition in 2024 (the last figures available) of a little under 50,000.

Times change. Daily and state Baptist papers have had to change, but they still are relevant. If you watch Fox News or CNN, you will notice both quote major newspapers in their newscasts. Why? Because it’s the papers that are digging behind the mere presentation of headlines to give readers the whole story.

The same is true with Baptist Standard. Editor Eric Black and Managing Editor Ken Camp know Texas Baptists and Southern Baptists. With each digital issue, they give Standard readers the information—facts and the story behind them—they need to point Baptists in the direction God would have them go. We once called it: “Tell the truth and trust the people.”

Toby Druin served as editor of the Baptist Standard from 1996-98. He previously served as associate editor.