“The editorial independence the magazine has enjoyed in the past will continue, of course,” he said in an email. “That has been a hallmark of my tenure here, and the tenure of the CEOs before me. It will not change now.”
Martin said staff of World News Group’s digital, audio and video platforms also do in-depth reporting, pointing to a recent story about abuse allegations involving legendary Southern Baptist leader and retired Texas judge Paul Pressler, which was reported by World’s digital team.
“I bring this up only to say that we have a deep reporting bench that we will need to shift from other platforms to the magazine in the short term to make up for the great writers we have lost along with Marvin,” he said. “It won’t be easy, and we’ll really miss those who have left, but the reporting work goes on.”
World previously ran a bloglike opinion section in the early 2000s, but it was largely unsuccessful.
The launch of the new section comes at a time when World’s finances are healthier than they have been in years. The organization ran deficits from 2002 to 2007, then again in 2009 and 2012, when expenses exceeded revenue by nearly $600,000, according to financial disclosures made to the IRS. World had a negative balance in its total assets from 2005 to 2018, reaching $2.8 million in the red in 2009.
Olasky made it clear he has confidence in the staff still at the magazine and in the work being done overall at World. The issue for him is World Opinions. Olasky said that for almost all of his tenure, he was kept insulated from the business side of the operations, allowed to publish as he saw fit as editor-in-chief. He described much of his experience as working at the “Belz Brothers Building and Loan,” a reference to World’s founder, Joel Belz, and the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
The staff departures reveal tensions behind the scenes at World that reflect the larger conflicts in evangelical culture, especially around race, politics and former President Donald Trump, as well as concerns about World’s future direction. Former deputy chief content officer J.C. Derrick was fired in 2020 after bringing up some of the conflicts.
Mindy Belz, known for her extensive reporting in the Middle East, cited conflicts among evangelicals and changes at World in her farewell column. Belz — sister-in-law of Joel Belz — also said she’d found hope in reporting on the lives of Christians outside the United States.
“There the gospel is having its way in beleaguered hearts, and Christianity is on the rise — in the way it uniquely does rise, not as a conquering battle-master but as a suffering servant, reviving the faint and giving hope to the weary,” she wrote.
Not all former World staffers are displeased with the new opinion section. Megan Basham, who freelanced for World starting in 2007 before joining the staff for several years, said she’s found it offers the kind of thoughtful commentary few other conservative outlets offer. She pointed to an essay by Samuel D. James, calling for churches to help men to “a rich life of worship, temperance and self-sacrifice.”
Basham left World to go to The Daily Wire, where she reports on entertainment, which she called a “great opportunity.” She also said there were personality conflicts between magazine staff and other parts of World’s staff.
