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The Salvation Army's 130-year-old
broadsheet, the War Cry, has converted to a tabloid.
War Cry, the weekly newspaper of the
Christian church and charity, has made the change to make it
easier to distribute to readers.
The first tabloid edition, out this
week, features an interview with 2007 X Factor finalist Rhydian
Roberts headlined "God is My X-Factor".
"The main purpose of the War Cry is to
present the Christian faith as a life-enhancing lifestyle," said
the paper's editor, major Nigel Bovey.
A network of volunteers sell the paper
in pubs, clubs, prisons, airports and 700 Salvation Army
churches. "It is not just the paper that does that work – it's
the conversations that our volunteers have with many of the
public," Bovey added.
The War Cry costs just 20p - priced to
get as many people as possible to buy it. This makes it 10p
cheaper than the Sun, although the War Cry sells about 49,000
each week, compared with about 3m a day for the Sun.
In its next issue the paper will cover
the story about the atheist bus advertising campaign. "Belief in
God has always been attacked – look at what happened to the son
of God," Bovey said.
Another major topic War Cry will cover
later this year is the bicentenary of the birth of Charles
Darwin and his impact on science and religion.
The War Cry was founded in 1879 by
general William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. He
wrote the first article on the first page of the first issue of
the War Cry, published in 27 December 1879.
Globally there are more than 40
versions of the War Cry, printed in 28 languages.
"Throughout its history, the War Cry
has always had a contemporary look. In its early years, like the
Times of the day, it carried no pictures on the front page.
"In 1995 The War Cry was the UK's first
Christian newspaper to go full color. Today, compact newspapers
are very popular and a compact War Cry is the look for today.
Many of our existing readers helped with market research to
develop the new look," Bovey said. |
