Journalists Say Southern Baptists Told Them to Quit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. —  The director and news editor of the Southern Baptist Convention’s news service say they have been told to resign or be “dealt with harshly.”

Al Shackleford and Dan Martin said they were given the ultimatum at their Nashville office June 19 by the Rev. Harold C. Bennett, president of the convention’s Executive Committee. The two journalists, who went public with the news a week later, said they were told if they resigned quietly they would be continued on the payroll through the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.

“They’ve redefined the terms of objective reporting to mean they want to tell their story their way, and anyone with another opinion is a troublemaker,” said Martin, the news editor.

Shackleford said the committee is making “an attempt to control the right and responsibility of Baptist church members to know what’s happening in their denomination.”

Bennett could not be reached for comment.

For the last five years, Baptist Press has been under fire from fundametalists for an alleged imbalance in reporting on developments in the denomination’s theological-political controversy.