It’s been five weeks since the Spokane, Wash., community caught the first glimpse of SpokaneFAVS.com in its professional, beta format. The aqua-splashed site is both bright and bustling — a marriage of veteran and citizen journalism intersecting with tools and resources that connect Spokanites to faith and values news.

Nearly three weeks ago, Wilmington, N.C., had its own party to celebrate the beta launch of WilmingtonFAVS.com. This is the blueprint coming to life in Religion News LLC’s three-year hyperlocal religion news project, funded by the Lilly Endowment.

Each FAVS (Faith And ValueS) site features daily news and opinion content from site editors Tracy Simmons and Amanda Greene, community contributors and bloggers, national partner Religion News Service and local partnerships with area newspapers and broadcast stations. Special attention is given to multimedia content; we regularly produce original audio, video, photos, polls, slideshows and other media.

In addition to in-depth and engaging religion reports and dialogue, the sites also provide tools to help readers explore beliefs within and outside their traditions, including:

• A faith-based directory of houses of worship, businesses, organizations and educational institutions, searchable by faith, company type and other data
• A calendar of community events and religious holidays
• Press release listings
• Obituary notices

Already, the FAVS sites are positively impacting their communities. The Rev. Eric Blauer, SpokaneFAVS.com blogger, shared this: “I appreciate how this site has provided me with some very rich opportunities to engage and grow by an expanding sphere of views and beliefs. Thanks for your work here in Spokane.”

And Annie, a WilmingtonFAVS.com reader, said, “This is such a well-written article. It presents the facts, but offers a personal voice. I love that it is non-judgmental in either direction. We need more of this in our country! It illustrates a story about a Christian… without the usual Christian privilege.”

Next month we’ll formally welcome aboard Missourian Kellie Kotraba to begin work on ColumbiaFAVS.com, which includes a unique partnership with the NPR/University of Missouri affiliate, KBIA 91.3.  Other FAVS sites will follow this July and next January.

Want to apply?

Applications will be accepted through June 1 for potential sites in Athens, Ga., and Hartford, Conn. We also accept site location proposals on an ongoing basis. Details can be found at ReligionNewsLLC.com.

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What’s in a name? Everything, apparently.

I recently learned that naming the newest project of the Religion News family is akin to finding a name for a child. We researched. We studied. We opened book after book to ponder phrases, meanings, synonyms, antonyms and any other “nyms” ad nauseum.

From there, the lists began, where our team of name-finders would add, delete, promote and demote suggestions until we were left with just a handful of possibilities.

Then the questions began, often sounding like the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. Is it too stuffy, too stodgy, too fancy, too frilly? Too trite, too right, too boring, too silly?

In the end, the name came more from left field than right, and we—happy to finally have something to call ourselves—began to settle into our new moniker with an exhausted sigh.

So what did we choose?

SpokaneFAVS, WilmingtonFAVS, ColumbiaFAVS.

FAVS, which rhymes with raves, stands for Faith And ValueS, a phrase we want folks to identify as non-sectarian coverage of all beliefs, creeds, faiths and spirituality. We hope the name, with its bit of edge and bit of tradition, will grow over time as a trusted and unique source for community religion news.

Until then, do what we’re doing: roll the name around on your tongue for a while. Practice it out loud and let it hang there a while. Read it on our construction blogs, our snazzy new logo, our social media sites and here on this site. Let it become your FAV.

In other news

• Stay tuned as we officially soft launch SpokaneFAVS.com and WilmingtonFAVS.com in the next three to six weeks (unforeseen delays excluded). We’ll share the news as soon as they go live and ask our early readers serve as our official site testers.

• Interviews are underway for our Athens, Ga., hub, and applications are being accepted for our Hartford, Conn., site. If you know someone who would like to apply, direct them to our online application.

• Our next round of community editors will begin in June and July. I look forward to introducing them to you at that time.

Who’s on board

National Community Manager Tiffany McCallen

Religion News LLC, the new entity created by the Religion Newswriters Foundation, made its first hire in the venture to create up to 20 community websites for faith and spirituality news over the next three years as part of a $3.5 million Lilly Endowment grant.

Tracy Simmons, creator of the Connecticut-based Creedible website, was recruited in August to create the first hub site in Spokane, Wash. To help generate buzz about the site, Simmons (@SpokaneFAVS) developed a “construction blog” to highlight news about the project, the community contributors she’s recruiting and the plans to collaborate with other media organizations in the area.

Religion News Spokane's Tracy Simmons

“Like most of us, I’ve been watching in horror over the past few years as too many newspapers have reduced or killed their religion sections. Religion News Spokane, and the hubs, are a way to keep the faith beat alive in this digital age,” Simmons said. “Through daily news coverage, blogs and multimedia production I hope to engage the community in an online dialogue about the theological issues that make people tick.”

Earlier this month former (Wilmington, N.C.) StarNews reporter Amanda Greene (@iwritereligion) began work on the second hub. She, too, has a construction blog for project updates — “WilmingtonFAVS” — including the development of a partnership with her former employer. For Greene, who moved from the religion beat to education in 2010, the project is a chance to return to her passion for telling nuanced stories of faith.

Religion News Wilmington's Amanda Greene

“This opportunity is a homecoming for me,” Greene said. “After covering religion here for nearly a decade — and being away covering education for a few years — I recognize the importance of expressing how local people live their faiths.”

Both Greene and Simmons bring award-winning talents to the hyperlocal project. Greene’s “Divine Diva” StarNews blog was recognized in 2009 by the New York Times Regional Group as a model for WordPress blogs, and Simmons’ work at Creedible took first place in the Schachern online section category for the 2011 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence.

Joining them by the end of the year as our third hub will be a reporter chosen to work in a unique partnership with KBIA 91.3, the NPR affiliate in Columbia, Mo. In addition to the standard site editor and management duties, this person will be part of the KBIA news team, writing and producing radio spots and potentially hosting programs.

What’s next

In the next few months, work for the hubs will center on:

• Creating a website template that will seamlessly share content with the project’s primary partner, Religion News Service;
• Launching our first three sites — Spokane, Wilmington, Columbia — in early 2012;
• Hiring editors for other sites, with a goal of 10 sites up and running by December 2012.

Want to apply?

Job descriptions and applications are available online (KBIA position, other site positions). Columbia (KBIA)-based candidates should apply by Nov. 30; applications for other site positions are accepted on an ongoing basis. Criteria for community sites include locations:

• With populations between 100,000 and 400,000
• At least 100 miles from any RNA active members
• Where religion is not a full-time beat for reporters at daily, general circulation media outlets
• Where partnership possibilities are plentiful
• Where opportunities for advertising and other support are abundant
• Where there’s a rich mix of both academic institutions with religion experts and diverse faith traditions
• Where faith-based social networks are solid and functional.

Direct questions to the project’s national community manager, Tiffany McCallen.

Home page image: The Clocktower on Havermale Island in Spokane (Bigstockphoto)

Sept. 30, 2011

Contact:
Tiffany McCallen
Tiffany.McCallen@ReligionNews.com
573-355-5201, ext. 2#

COLUMBIA, MO. — Former Creedible.com Editor and Publisher Tracy Simmons was recently announced as the winner of the 2011 Religion Newswriters Association’s Schachern Award for Online Religion Section of the Year. Winners for all 19 religion reporting awards in six major categories — newspapers, multiple media, magazines, broadcast, books and students — were announced Sept. 17 in Durham at RNA’s 62nd Annual Conference and Awards Banquet.

Judges praised Simmons’ work at Creedible, noting that the online religion publication has “…lots of good features, particularly on the Haiti entry. Good use of text, photos, slide shows and audio.”

Simmons, who has more than a decade of religion reporting experience, created Creedible.com in 2009, when her newspaper, the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American, eliminated the religion beat. She also covered faith stories for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal and the Victoria Advocate, both in Texas.

This summer, Simmons was hired as the inaugural editor and local community manager of Religion News LLC’s upcoming hyperlocal website project. Her site, Religion News Spokane, is slated to debut in early 2012 and will showcase nuanced, in-depth religion stories focused on the greater Spokane area, as well as national faith news from the award-winning newswire Religion News Service. Community contributors will provide another layer of insight through blogs, profiles and panel discussions.

Religion News Spokane is the first of up to 20 hyperlocal religion news websites that will debut over the next three years. The initiative is part of a $3.5 million grant to Religion News LLC (a new entity of the Religion Newswriters Foundation) from the Lilly Endowment. Read more about the grant and its partnering projects.

For news and updates on Religion News Spokane, subscribe to its “construction” blog, http://religionnewsspokane.wordpress.com. You can also find Religion News Spokane on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Foursquare.

But you can start following SpokaneFAVS now. Follow, befriend and check in with Spokane on:

• Facebook
• @SpokaneFAVS on Twitter
• Foursquare
• Google+
• and Flickr

More sites are coming, so check this space soon for more.

About the job

Editors/community managers will create and manage a community religion news and social services website. Duties will include website creation/maintenance; writing, producing and editing content about all faiths and spirituality; creating a resource database; recruiting and organization site contributors; selling and posting ads for the site; establishing collaborative relationships with other media; raising funds for the site; promoting the site and other duties.

View the complete job description here (PDF).

Ideal candidates

Strong writing, reporting, editing, website creation, organizational and communication skills; ability to work independently; multimedia production skills preferred. Experience in covering religion required. Education: B.A. or B.S. required, with a major in journalism, marketing or convergence media preferred. Knowledge of the following programs highly desirable: Office, Adobe (CS), content management systems, mapping software, social media networks, FTP programs, email and Internet browsers. Video, audio and slide program knowledge a plus.

Candidates must also live in or near communities with populations of 100,000 or more where 1) No Religion Newswriters Association members cover religion and 2) Where religion news is not covered by other reporters at general circulation news outlets.

To apply

Submit the following:

• A completed application form (PDF)
• Your current résumé
• Brief community proposal outlining community population/demographics, religiosity, potential partnering organizations, existing (or lack thereof) religion coverage

Questions?

Please contact Tiffany McCallen.

Religion News Service (RNS), which for 77 years has been the nation’s leading syndicated wire service devoted to unbiased coverage of religion, ethics and spirituality, will become a nonprofit on June 1, 2011, in an innovative new relationship with the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) and its affiliated institution, Religion Newswriters Foundation (RNF). The collaboration also forges ties between RNS and the University of Missouri School of Journalism and its Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Founded in 1934, RNS has been owned since 1994 by Advance Publications, Inc. On June 1, 2011, the company will transfer RNS assets to Religion News LLC, a new 501(c)(3) entity affiliated with RNF,, according to an agreement finalized today.

A three-year grant totaling nearly $3.5 million from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. will help RNS make the transition, expand its online presence and launch a series of community religion websites devoted to maintaining and expanding coverage of religion news in underserved markets.

“Religious beliefs motivate people in key aspects of their lives, yet most small and mid-sized media markets have abandoned coverage of religion,” said Dr. Debra L. Mason, executive director of RNA and RNF and a professor at the University of Missouri, who will manage the new nonprofit. “We seek to seed communities with knowledgeable religion journalists, showcase RNS’ terrific coverage and build on existing social networks to create a robust and economically viable model for local religion news.”

The RNS editorial offices will remain in Washington, sharing space with University of Missouri programs at the National Press Building.

RNS subscribers can expect to receive even more of the quality religion coverage that has made RNS the most trusted source of religion news for the nation’s daily newspapers, religious publications and websites.

“This new venture allows us to continue our award-winning religion coverage under the RNS name and expand our content for the 21st century,” said RNS Editor-in-Chief Kevin Eckstrom. “We’re grateful to Lilly Endowment for sharing our vision that we need more, not less, coverage of a subject that is at the heart of so much of our national and global life.”

As part of the expanded RNS, readers and editors can expect:

• the launch of a revamped and interactive RNS website, www.ReligionNews.com (Fall 2011)
• the creation of up to 20 local community-based websites showcasing nuanced local and national coverage of religion in underserved markets
• entrepreneurial strategies to engage new audiences
• expanded coverage of targeted topics, including religion and politics

The transition to nonprofit status is the result of two years of work by both RNS and RNF staff. The acquisition was initiated by the late Deborah Howell, former Washington bureau chief of Advance Publications’ Newhouse News Service. The RNF board approved the creation of Religion News LLC in fall 2009.

According to Steve Newhouse, chairman of Advance.net: “We’re proud to have owned RNS these past 17 years, and we’re excited about RNS’ future after joining forces with Religion Newswriters Foundation.”

The research capabilities, entrepreneurial activities and media collaborations of the University of Missouri-based Reynolds Journalism Institute, as well as the interdisciplinary Center on Religion & the Professions, will also enhance RNS as it moves forward.

Steven Maynard, president of RNA and RNF, said the board welcomes the new collaboration. “This is a tremendous opportunity for RNA and RNF,” said Maynard, the religion reporter at The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash. “We have great respect for the work Religion News Service has done, and we look forward to this new era for our organization and the advancement of religion reporting.”

Contact

Kevin Eckstrom
Editor-in-Chief, Religion News Service
(202) 463-8777 x225 or (202) 390-0240
RNS on Twitter: @ReligionNewsNow

Debra Mason
Manager, Religion News LLC
(573) 882-9257
RNA on Twitter: @ReligionReport

Religion News LLC, incorporated in the State of Ohio, is a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation formed in 2010 and affiliated with the Religion Newswriters Foundation. Religion News LLC is overseen by a managing board consisting of Debra L. Mason, who also serves as executive director of the Religion Newswriters Association and Foundation; Deborah Caldwell of CNBC.com; and Steve Buttry of the Journal Register Company.

RNF is a charitable, literary and educational organization founded in 1999 as the supporting foundation to the 62-year-old RNA. Its mission is to promote excellence in media coverage and public discourse about religion. With philanthropic support, RNF has created numerous tools and training opportunities aimed at improving coverage of religion, including ReligionLink, Lilly Scholarships in Religion, ReligionStylebook.com, and more than 100 training events.

RNS is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and provides daily coverage of national and international religion news to some of the nation’s leading news outlets, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, NPR, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, Time magazine, USA TODAY, Beliefnet, The Huffington Post, Christianity Today and The Christian Century. It is led by Editor-in-Chief Kevin Eckstrom, Associate Editor Daniel Burke and Production Editor Adelle M. Banks.

Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held communications company that, directly or through subsidiaries, owns Condé Nast Publications, Parade Publications, Fairchild Publications, American City Business Journals, and award-winning newspapers in more than 25 American cities.

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri works with citizens, journalists and researchers to strengthen democracy through better journalism. RJI seeks out the most exciting new ideas, tests them with real-world experiments, uses social science research to assess their effectiveness, and delivers solutions that citizens and journalists can put to use in their own communities.

Lilly Endowment, a private philanthropic foundation based in Indianapolis, since 1937 has focused its grantmaking in the areas of religion, community development and education. The primary aim of its religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the religious lives of American Christians, principally by supporting efforts to encourage, support and educate a new generation of talented pastors and to strengthen current pastors in their capacities for excellence in ministry. The Endowment helps congregations be vibrant, healthy communities of faith and encourages efforts that make available and accessible the wisdom of the Christian tradition for contemporary life. The Endowment also supports projects that strengthen the contributions that religious ideas, practices, values and institutions make to the common good of society and promote informed dialogue about religion in American life.

Twitter

• Religion News Service is @ReligionNewsNow
• Religion Newswriters is @ReligionReport
• SpokaneFAVS is @SpokaneFAVS
• WilmingtonFAVS is @WilmFAVS

Facebook

• RNS is at facebook.com/pages/Religion-News-Service
• RNA is at facebook.com/ReligionNewsriters. RNA’s annual award for the best student religion reporting also has a page at facebook.com/ChandlerAward.
• The Center on Religion & the Professions, an affliated, interdisciplinary resource center at the University of Missouri, also has a page
• SpokaneFAVS
• WilmingtonFAVS

LinkedIn

• RNA maintains a professional group at LinkedIn
• WilmingtonFAVS

Google+

• RNS
• SpokaneFAVS