In 2024, we surveyed our readers to better understand how you interact with Adventist Record. The survey revealed some helpful information that can help us shape the future of Record.
And to answer head-on the question that came up as a concern on some responses: don’t worry, there is no plan to get rid of the print Record. In fact, support for the printed copy was overwhelming with 72 per cent of respondents saying their primary way of accessing Record was still the print edition. Responding to the question “How would you feel if Record was an online only publication”, 58 per cent of respondents said “No, having a physical magazine is an important part of church culture”.
So while there is no plan to stop printing, we are encouraging good stewardship of resources to minimise waste, which is why you may see notices in Noticeboard from time to time reminding church contacts to make sure the right number of magazines are arriving.
While 77 per cent of those 65 years and older read every issue (and this was the biggest demographic that responded), those in the younger generations are reading less. The biggest group who don’t read Record are respondents aged 18-24. However, for those aged under 35, 70 per cent still do engage with the print edition; more than half would like to see more video content; around half engage with web and social content and 70-80 per cent watch our video content.
Some of these statistics are similar to demographics outside of Australia and New Zealand, with 85 per cent of Pacific respondents saying they would like to see more video incorporated.
For a number of years now, we have operated in the digital space and we are certainly aware of the need to future proof the ministry. We are on multiple social platforms, as well as producing podcasts and video content. We’ve also produced two books, compilations of our Living 28 and Living Kingdom series.
Yet, the survey highlighted a need for Record to better reach certain demographics, including younger church attendees who are keen to see more video content and those in the Pacific Island nations, for whom the print copy has always been expensive and logistically difficult to provide.
Across all demographics, news was still the most popular function of Record. People could choose multiple sections for this question (up to three), however 67.3 per cent of people chose news as their most enjoyable section.
I can say we are receiving more news from correspondents around the Pacific and in 2024, we achieved an average of one news story per day uploaded to our website. This is no small feat with a small team, so thank you to all those who submitted and for the faithful work in our schools, churches and conferences/missions to move the work of the Church forward. Without you, there would be no news to report on.
Going forward, one of our focuses is still to deliver regular news but to find new ways to do that for the Pacific members, who now have more access to digital platforms. One thing we’ve discovered is that although we have many Facebook followers from Papua New Guinea, they are not translating into web traffic, as their data is for social media only. So, we’ve started a WhatsApp channel. You can now follow Adventist Record on WhatsApp, receive news and photos, without having to navigate to an external website. If you’d like to follow, find our channel here. Another initiative we are looking at is providing a video news segment again—something that can be played in churches that are interested. While we do produce a news podcast, we are looking at making sure all our podcasts have video versions, to increase their reach.
All of this to say, Record is still committed to serving you. We are thankful to those who filled out the survey and helped us gauge where we are at. We are also grateful to you for reading, writing, commenting and sharing our stories and magazines.
