A history of The Interim

Paul Tuns

The Interim was founded by Campaign Life Coalition in March 1983, when the mainstream media ignored the news conferences of Bernard Nathanson, an American abortionist-turned-pro-lifer. CLC’s Jim Hughes edited the first issue. There was some debate within CLC and among pro-lifers about the need for such a publication and/or its long-term viability. With the March 2008 paper, The Interim marked its 25th anniversary.

There have been eight editors of The Interim: Hughes (March 1983-summer 1983), the late Carl Scharfe (1983-1985), Sabina McLuhan (1985-1989), Fr. Alphonse de Valk (1989-1993), Peter Muggeridge (1993-1995), Mike Mastromatteo (1995-1998), David Curtin (1998-2001) and Paul Tuns (2001-present). Each editor has changed the flavour of the paper, emphasizing pro-life basics, polemics, news coverage or analysis and commentary, depending upon: a combination of current events, social changes and the political climate; personality and skills of the editor; and the needs of the pro-life community.

Yet, there has been continuity. There is basic news coverage of events that the mainstream media are not covering, particular pro-life activities. It provides a pro-life angle to current events ignored by the major media outlets – for example, noting abortion rates and contraception use when covering Canada’s population trends, while the media focus on immigration. It provides space for pro-life and pro-family columnists, giving readers analysis, commentary and reviews from a distinct point of view that is not always available in the mainstream press.

When there are changes, it is not what is covered that is new, but what is emphasized.

Over time, the range of issues covered by the paper has expanded. The Interim began as a pro-life newspaper defined mostly by its opposition to abortion. Over time, it naturally covered euthanasia. Eventually, the paper covered the advance of the gay-rights agenda, contraception, immorality taught in schools (including through “sex ed”), the marginalization of religious views in the public square, religious freedom, the United Nations (with a focus on population control and threats to national sovereignty), bioethics, including stem cell research and cloning, educational choice, freedom of speech media bias, and more.

Today, The Interim covers the broad range of moral issues affecting the sanctity of human life, the dignity of the individual and the uniqueness and fundamental importance of the traditional family. Yet, most of the newspaper’s readers, it is assumed, are most moved (still) by the abortion issue. The priority of abortion and other life issues is reflected throughout the paper.

It is notable that over time, the paper has lost readers because of its opposition to euthanasia, criticism of the gay-rights agenda and support for particular pro-life strategies. Some come back, but many do not.

The Interim was – and sometimes still is – perceived as a Catholic publication. There are three main reasons for this: the support of Catholic parishes through advertising; the types of stories or the angles in stories that covered Catholic pro-life events/personalities/thought; and the editorship of a Catholic priest for four years, as well as the long-standing columns of Fr. Ted Colleton.

The paper has been (to various degrees) sensitive to this perception and in recent years, has adopted strategies to reduce the number of overtly Catholic ads, displaying awareness of the types of stories covered (from sources to events to wording). In recent years, many non-Catholics have noted these great strides to appear more inclusive.

Not that we weren’t trying before. We hired a full-time worker to sell ads to Protestant churches in the early years, but without any success.

Nonetheless, The Interim is a non-denominational paper, open to all religious (and non-religious) views that uphold the sanctity of human life, but was founded on a self-consciously Christian worldview. The editorial board and nearly all of its contributors are and have been practising Christians. The key to limiting disagreements is to focus on the moral issues on which Christians faithful to Scripture can agree, while keeping theology out of the pages of the paper.

The newspaper has been viewed as the mouthpiece of Campaign Life Coalition. The Interim was founded by CLC in 1983, but shortly afterwards, the paper was independently incorporated as a limited liability corporation. This company publishes The Interim newspaper, as well as pamphlets and books, including the best-selling collections and memoirs of Fr. Ted Colleton and, most recently, an autobiography of the late pro-life hero Joseph Borowski.

In 2002, The Interim lost the financial support of the Life Ethics Education Association, which subsidized the costs of mailing the publication to clergy, when LEEA lost its charitable tax status. Today, subscriptions to clergy, MPs, some schools and professional groups are covered by various donors, including CLC, Business for Life and individual donors.

In 1996, the internet-based LifeSite was launched as a division of The Interim, although it operated independently both financially and editorially.

Since 2001, The Interim has published a regular curriculum supplement (Interim Plus) for educators and homeschooling parents, which provides activities and additional reading (and internet links) related to stories that appear in The Interim. The paper has also sponsored and run the Fr. Ted Colleton Scholarship essay competition for high school students entering university.

Today, The Interim employs a full-time editor, production manager and circulation manager, as well as a part-time assistant editor and two part-time advertising salespersons. It also shares resources with Campaign Life Coalition, including reception staff and accounting services.

Its circulation is just under 20,000, down from about 30,000 six years ago after the removal of non-paying recipients. Subscriptions, advertising and a tiny number of donations keep the paper going, but at the end of the year, CLC usually makes up for a shortfall. CLC president and Interim founder Jim Hughes recognizes the need for a pro-life paper to inform and activate the pro-life community in Canada and reaffirmed at a recent meeting the need for CLC – and all pro-life Canadians – to support The Interim.

The paper is seeking new ways to spread the pro-life message, to inform and activate the movement. Its editorial and business boards are convinced that the past quarter-century of honest, dependable, pro-life journalism is just the beginning.