What's the Scratch?

Since August  of last year I've been a staff writer for The Scratch, an online news source for Seventh-day Adventists.  The weekly news brief was founded by young, active-in-the-church Adventists Ryan Becker and Kevin Christensen and features writers across generations from Baby Boomers to Gen X to Millenials to Gen Z.  I suppose you could argue that as a writer for the Scratch I'm a little biased when I say that I think this is a vital resource for SDA church members.  There are already so many Adventist media outlets from official outlets like the Adventist Review to independent outfits like Spectrum.  What could a new outlet possibly bring to the table that's not already there?

I think The Scratch has three elements that it make essential to every member that wants to know what's going on in their church.

First, The Scratch is unbiased.  Getting unbiased information about what's going on in the world church is a tricky proposition.  Virtually all of the church-sanctioned media outlets are more about public relations or devotions than news.  This is not a criticism. I think it's entirely appropriate that the Adventist Review serve as source of inspiration and information about what great things are happening in the church. But if there are things that aren't going so well in the church; when there are stories that might not make the church look so good you're not going to find them in the Review or any of the union publications like the Visitor or Southern Tidings.  On the other hand Spectrum magazine and others ranging across the conservative to liberal spectrum (no pun intended) exist to cast a critical eye on the church proper.  They serve an important purpose in challenging members to think critically and evaluate carefully what is going on in the church.  But what if you just want to know what's going on in the church without  PR puffery or jaundiced critique? That's where The Scratch comes in. Our editors have made it clear that every piece we submit should stick to just the facts and avoid editorializing.  The closest you'll get to personal opinion is in the "Word on the Street" segment at the end of our "Need to Know" brief where we''ll summarize what people are saying from all sides of the issue.

Second, The Scratch is short.  This blog entry is already longer than an entire Scratch News Brief. The Scratch is a news brief not a news magazine. We know you're busy and in The Scratch you'll find a quick and reliable way to know what's happening now in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in five minutes or less.  If you have the time and want to know more or dig deeper, every Scratch article includes links to our sources where you can explore the issue in greater depth.  Each weekly news brief includes one longer "Need to Know" article and two to three one paragraph "Ought to Know" briefs.  It's all there on one page.  There may be other independent outlets like Adventist Today that strive to provide unvarnished hard news about the Adventist church, but none that I know of do it as concisely as the Scratch does.

Third, The Scratch is current.  Because The Scratch releases a news brief every Friday (so that you show up for church Sabbath morning fully in the know), the latest news is always included. A monthly release would mean by the time you get the news it's no longer the latest, it's just late.

So there you have it.  For the latest, unbiased news on the Adventist church in five minutes or less make The Scratch part of your routine. You can link to the site above and then, if you'd like, sign up to get The Scratch brief delivered to your inbox.