The future of
The Interim

On page 22, we have an obituary of William F. Buckley who died in February. In 1955, Buckley founded National Review, a magazine that has delivered some of the best conservative commentary fortnightly for more than 50 years. In doing so, it has informed conservative Americans about a host of issues and encouraged their activism. Washington Post columnist George F. Will has said that without National Review, the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 would not have been possible. Will’s point is that a movement needs intellectual formation and a rallying publication to be coherent and effective.

The Interim has done much the same for the pro-life movement in Canada. Founded in March 1983 to cover events ignored by the media, it has provided pro-life Canadians with information unavailable or difficult to find elsewhere. It presents a clear and principled pro-life angle to the issues of the day. And in doing so, it has activated pro-lifers to do everything from witness against injustices to voting for pro-life candidates; its content has provided a source of information that has served as the basis of letters to the editor and letters to elected officials.

As is explained in the history of this paper provided on page 13, the emphasis given to the kinds of stories has changed over the years. We began focusing on abortion, but expanded to other issues as they came to the forefront of political debate (the gay agenda, bioethics, sex ed, etc.). Our goal, as stated in our first editorial and explained in this month’s editorial, was to provide a voice of moral sanity in a country that lost its way. The founders understood that while they were out of step with the times, society had become out of step with traditional common sense. In less secular terms, while society had turned its back on God, The Interim and its readers would remain faithful during the in-between times, when the moral decadence of abortion and other aspects of the culture of death would become commonplace in our society.

It is sobering to read some of the articles from a quarter-century ago. Joseph Borowski, the late pro-life hero who resigned from the Manitoba government cabinet over the issue of abortion and took his battle for the recognition of the sanctity of unborn life all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, wrote in the early days that the abortion battle would be won in a “three or four years.” Many pro-lifers at that time thought the interim years would be much briefer than they have become. I have talked to activists who thought their commitment to the cause would require a few years, not a lifetime. But as Fr. Richard John Neuhaus said at a conference in 2001, those who are called to speak for the unborn are in for the duration.

While a quarter-century might be a long time to dedicate to a cause during one’s own life, it is barely a blip on the radar screen of history. That the battle has not yet been won is no reason to stop fighting for justice for the unborn. There is no excuse for quitting.

Not quitting is not the same thing as remaining the same. Over the years, The Interim has changed its focus, its style and its look (but never its outlook). In the 1980s, there was coverage of regular demonstrations. Today, with less street activism, we cover issues more than events. In the early days, there was a need for basic pro-life apologetics to educate the pro-life movement in its infancy, but today we provide more analysis of current events. It is never a case of one type of story over another, but rather, priorities and emphasis. Either way, the fundamental mission remains the same: to provide the pro-life movement with the information it needs to be effective in its various forms of activism.

A lot has happened in the 25 years since the paper was launched, but the biggest in the field of communications is the emergence of the home computer and the internet. Many pro-lifers are able to access news and commentary online, but a 2001 reader survey of Interim readers found that many of them did not browse the web. That may have changed in subsequent years, but considering our demographics, we have determined that a monthly paper coming to people’s homes through the mailbox is still an invaluable source of information for many.

Still, we need to reach a larger audience, including students, recent graduates and young families – all people who are on the net. To make our content more attractive and more relevant to new audiences, we are revamping our online presence. For nearly a decade, we have put the text of The Interim on our website, which has served the important, but limited, function of an archive for all to use. (Those who wanted more timely news stories read LifeSite, our online sister publication.)

But it is time, technologically at least, for The Interim to enter the 21st century, so we are in the process of making our website more dynamic. Later this year, www.theinterim.ca will provide up-to-date commentary and links to other excellent sources of information on a new blog, roll the paper out in stages over four weeks, rather than all at once at the end of the month, and have exclusive online features. In time, we hope to have audio and video capacity, too, but that is much further down the road. We will report on these developments as they become available, but the goal is to present pro-life resources to an all-new audience.

We are also inaugurating a speakers series, with events planned both at our offices and offsite. This is only at the planning stages, but we hope to have Interim regulars and special guests from other organizations and fields presenting their expertise on a wide variety of issues of concern to pro-life Canadians. This is tentatively set to begin later this spring or summer, so look for a schedule in the May issue of The Interim and join us if you at all can.

While seeking to exploit new avenues to get our message out to both the pro-life community and the general public (through the internet and live speakers), we will not forget the paper itself. We are beginning to work on a redesign to make The Interim more reader-friendly. We are looking at new contributors to add a greater diversity of views and are considering new features to add even greater depth to coverage of issues. We will have more debates and symposia to reflect the range of pro-life opinion.

This year, our circulation manager and business board chair Dan Di Rocco is leading an effort to re-examine everything the paper does, from editorial content and advertising to circulation and fundraising. In February, we called more than 20 pro-life leaders to an all-day session to discuss these matters. The event, graciously hosted by Monsignor Ambrose Sheehy of Blessed Trinity Catholic Parish in Toronto, was a long meeting held on the day of the worst blizzard Toronto has seen in years. But the discussion give birth to a number of useful ideas on how to make the paper more effective in both its presentation and fundraising.

Over the years, subscriptions, advertising, church sponsorship, donations and the regular support of Campaign Life Coalition have kept the paper afloat. But we are also looking at ways to get the paper on a more stable financial footing. Once that is completed, we will be able to grow and improve even more.

For years, The Interim has produced much more than a vital newspaper. We have published pamphlets and books – and will continue doing so. But considering the importance of the pro-life, pro-family, pro-faith message, it is necessary to expand our reach on the internet and elsewhere. The Interim will grow, reaching ever more Canadians, because our work of informing and activating the movement and educating the general public remains relevant.

– Paul Tuns