Gretchen Keiser, editor of The Georgia Bulletin since 1986, gave priests some of the results of a 1990 readership survey done by an outside firm. One goal of the survey was to measure readers’ response to the newspaper.

Of those responding, she informed the priests, 65 percent said they had read four of the last four issues of the archdiocesan newspaper. Seventy-eight percent had read three of the last four issues while 88 percent had read two out of four.

Statistics produced from the survey “give me peace of mind,” she told the priests, that a significant number of people are reading the paper, while improvements are still needed.

Responding to a questions submitted by the priests prior to the convocation which asked why the diocese has a newspaper rather than a monthly magazine, the editor said the Church is in the news constantly on such controversial topics as abortion, in-vitro fertilization, the Gulf war, and others, and a weekly format provides a timeliness that is impossible in a monthly publication.

The Second Vatican Council, Miss Keiser said, defined the diocese or archdiocese as the local expression of the universal Church. The newspaper is the diocesan vehicle of communication and the people of the archdiocese who together make up the local Church, under the archbishop. This is difficult since the geography and spread of the North Georgia Church means that most people identify with their parishes, but not with the archdiocese.

The editor said the paper is also an evangelization resource that reaches people who may not be active in the parish. She told pastors that by investing in the newspaper for each registered family they are helping parishioners to become informed of opportunities for education and spiritual formation across the archdiocese and of Church teaching and response to current events. Through the newspaper readers are also informed about how their contributions are disbursed and encouraged to support local and national collections.

“Pastors who believe in the paper are our greatest asset,” she told the assembly. On the other hand, if the impression is given that the paper is thrust upon the people, this resentment colors the view of parishioners.

Looking down the road at the tremendous growth predicted for the archdiocese, “it is a tremendous challenge for me and a very small staff,’ she said. “Your support is the greatest boost the paper could have.”

Questions from the floor touched upon whether advertising could be increased to offset the subscription price, whether alternative delivery systems had been considered, and whether more parish news could be included in the paper. The advertising market has been affected by the recession, the editor said, although the readership survey demographics show that The Georgia Bulletin has excellent demographics and a greater potential for advertising than has been realized. Mail delivery is so much more effective than parish dropoff of newspapers that Catholics papers across the country continue to pay for second-class mail, she said.

The Moderator of the meeting, Father Jim Miceli, St. Mary’s pastor, expressed appreciation for the way the staff had covered the events surrounding the resignation of Archbishop Eugene Marino. This brought a warm round of applause from the priests.

--Rita McInerney