Paper hopes to make Sunday special
Posted: 02 Nov 2006 @ 00:00
CHRISTIANS are being asked to support a new Sunday newspaper, which promises to bring “an often missing moral and ethical perspective on the news.
Life on Sunday, to be launched this autumn, will not be a Christian newspaper, say its publishers, the Life Association, but a paper produced by Christians, looking at national and international news events.
Market research and a feasibility study predict a circulation of “at least 300,000 copies, rising to 500,000”, a spokesman said this week. The new paper aims to compete with the other national Sunday papers.
The Life Association says it needs to raise £2 million to start the project, which it expects to be self-financing within two years. An appeal to readers of
Prophecy Today has so far raised £63,000. Once salaries and overheads have been paid all future profits will go to charity.
Professional staff
On Tuesday, Terry Taylor, a spokesman for the Life Association, said: “The staff we have recruited are all professionals and Christians. We will not be providing an overtly Christian newspaper, but we will be presenting news honestly, without a spin. There is a real market for this. There is a need to bring back family values.”
A dummy edition of
Life on Sunday has as its lead story the news that a survey had revealed that “married couples who communicate with their children are least likely to have sexually active teenagers”.
The front page also carries a story about the controversy surrounding the broadcasting of BBC Radio 4 Today programme from Burnley, and its an interview with the leader of the British National Party.
View from Alton
Charles Gardner, currently an editor with Yorkshire Weekly Newspapers, will edit the paper. The project has been commended by Lord Alton, who said: “There’s a real need for a family-friendly paper that lifts our spirits with good news, while reporting national and world affairs honestly and with integrity.”
A statement from the Life Association said: “For the past three years, this project has been developed by a team of experienced newspapermen who are convinced this is a venture that should be ‘owned’ and run by committed Christians rather than a few major financiers.”
For more information on the project, contact John Huckett on 01707 888190 or email
admin@lifeonsunday.com.