Worldwide News
celebrates 30th anniversary

By Thomas C. Hanson

PASADENA—You are holding in your hands or reading on the Internet the 30th anniversary edition of The Worldwide News.

The church has produced 629 issues of the paper produced since 1973. We celebrate our 30th anniversary with a new masthead.

The publication was produced on the now-closed Big Sandy, Texas, campus of Ambassador College until 1977, when the paper and staff moved to the church’s headquarters in Pasadena.

John Robinson conceived the idea of a denominational news publication and served as its managing editor from its inception April 1, 1973, until 1978. Other early full-time employees included Klaus Rothe, assistant managing editor, and Dixon Cartwright, copy editor.

In those days the paper was typeset on a Mergenthaler VIP phototypesetter, the galleys run through a photo processor, hung to dry, cut, run through a waxer and pasted on layout boards. Ellis Stewart made film negatives of the pages and burned printing plates to be sent to the Gladewater Mirror for printing.

The WN went to desktop publishing in the 1990s, and now zip disks are sent to the press at Vertis Advertising in the City of Industry, about 30 minutes from church headquarters. The WN was first put on the Internet in 1995, making it instantaneously available to readers worldwide.

The 1990s saw the launch of regional editions of the paper to supplement the U.S. edition. Budget cuts later in the decade limited WN circulation to the United States, while the regional editions continue. The WN was produced every two weeks from 1973 to March 12, 1996, when it became a monthly publication. We went to a magazine format in 1997 after being tabloid-sized since 1973.

Dexter Faulkner was named WN managing editor in 1978 and director of Editorial Services in 1979, a position he held until 1990. Later Editorial Services directors were Ron Kelly, Bernie Schnippert and G. R. Albrecht. Sheila Graham worked with the WN from 1973 until her retirement in 1996.

Two church employees—myself and Ron Grove, layout editor, work full-time on the WN. Mike Feazell oversees WCG Publications, and Mike Morrison contributes regularly and provides editorial supervision.

Ron Grove, a WCG employee since 1974, became the WN layout editor in April 1980. Jeff Zhorne came on board in August of that year, continuing until 1995. I started overseeing the WN in June of that year. As an Ambassador student in Big Sandy, I worked as a WN photographer from 1975 to 1977.

WN STAFF—From left: Mike Feazell, executive
editor; Ron Grove, layout editor; Mike Morrison,
editorial supervisor; and Tom Hanson, editor.
[Photo by Barb Edwards]

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2003