Introduction and Mission

Established in 1994, Adventist News Network is the official news agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church under the auspices of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Adventist Church's world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. Regional offices are located throughout the world: Abidjan; Berne; Brasilia; Chennai, India; London; Manila; Miami; Moscow; Nairobi; Rietvalleirand; Sydney; Seoul.

News and information is the currency of our age.

The mission of Adventist News Network is to connect and reflect the Adventist community of faith around the world. ANN serves the Adventist Church by being a reliable and credible source of news about the international church, for both internal and external publics.

1. Credibility is the first casualty of a promotional style of news reporting.

While treating institutional interests carefully and staying clear of mudslinging, ANN strives for objectivity and honesty in reporting news. While the vast majority of our news reports deal with positive topics, ANN also tackles more controversial issues: women's ordination, off-shoot movements, racial tensions, financial failure of institutions, high apostasy rates.

2. When attempting to communicate to a broader, non-Adventist audience--and especially the mainstream media--we have to speak in a language that will be understood.

There is nothing more profoundly alienating than hearing someone speak an in-house jargon that you don't understand.

Philosophy and Mission of ANN

Adventist News Network distributes its weekly news bulletins by e-mail to subscribers around the world. The vast majority of these are Adventist Church members. But there are non-Adventist recipients, including news editors of major international news outlets, religion reporters with secular print and electronic media, and non-Adventist religious media, such as Christianity Today, Religion News Service, Ecumenical News Service, etc.

Adventist News Network is also featured on the front page of the Adventist Church's Web site at www.adventist.org. This Web site is often the starting point for journalists who are researching some aspect of the Adventist Church. The site also attracts individuals who are merely curious about the church and its beliefs.

3. Through its use of the news format, ANN strives to help break down barriers of mistrust within the broader community.

In being content to merely speak among themselves, Adventists have sometimes unintentionally raised barriers of mistrust within the broader community. The church is often misunderstood and marginalized.

Packaging information about the Adventist Church in the news format is one way to reflect a more "mainstream" image of the church to those inclined to dismiss Adventism as irrelevant or fringe. The news format is almost universally recognized and accepted; it is non-threatening and it implies credibility. The news format speaks to audiences who may never read Adventist evangelistic material.

More info on our format can be found in the ANN Style Guide.