Kristin Jenkins has accepted the position of director of advancement for Albert College, Canada's oldest co-educational boarding and day school in Belleville, Ont. Photo: Saskia Rowley
The editor of the Anglican Journal, the national newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada, has announced her resignation effective Jan. 7, 2013.
Kristin Jenkins has accepted the position of director of advancement for Albert College, Canada’s oldest co-educational boarding and day school in Belleville, Ont. Her new portfolio includes marketing, communications and fundraising.
An award-winning journalist, Jenkins became editor of the Journal in July 2009, shepherding the 137-year-old newspaper through ongoing content and design changes, website re-design, daily newspaper and web reports at General Synod 2010 and a national readership survey in 2012. During Jenkins’ tenure, a new printing contract brought improved paper stock and colour to every page of the Journal as well as to all of the diocesan newspapers.
“Kristin has edited the Journal for a relatively short time, but the changes she has effected in the newspaper have been huge,” said Vianney (Sam) Carriere, director of communications and information resources at General Synod. “She has met many challenges with imagination and creativity, ever mindful of the needs and expectations of the newspaper’s readers,” said Carriere, who is also director of Resources for Mission.
Under Jenkins’ leadership, the newspaper continued to win awards in every category of writing, editing, reporting, photography and design. In 2012, the Journal brought home a total of 27 awards from the Associated Church Press (ACP) and the Canadian Church Press (CCP).
“Of all that the Journal team has accomplished in the past few years-and I mean “team”-the most profound change has been a shift away from its former style of reporting,” says Jenkins. “My editorship has been about inclusivity and building relationships by telling stories. I want readers to understand that the church they love is still a living, breathing entity and that they are very much a part of its future.”
In addition, says Jenkins, better understanding of the needs of print readers versus those visiting the website has helped the team focus content for two different audiences. “The readership survey told us that most of the readers of the Journal are female, non-clergy and 65 years of age and older,” she explains. “They told us they are getting their news from newspapers, magazines, radio and television and that they are not reading stories online. They also told us that they value their church newspapers which they feel keep them connected to the church.”
Recently, significant cuts to the Journal’s 2013 operating budget resulted in the decision to reduce the size of the newspaper from 12 pages to eight. While the future of the national newspaper and the 22 diocesan newspapers that it distributes is not yet known, Jenkins acknowledged that reader support has never been stronger. “I have never, in my 30-plus years as a journalist, been privy to such a passionate outpouring of affirmation and encouragement as I have been at the Journal. To every person who has written and called me, to give the good news as well as the bad, I am truly grateful.”
Prior to the Journal, Jenkins worked in corporate publishing where she was editor-in-chief of a number of national magazines, including Owl Canadian Family, TV Guide and Healthwatch. She also held senior executive positions at Chatelaine, FLARE, and The Medical Post, a weekly newspaper for Canadian physicians. As the editorial director at Thomson Healthcare, she was in charge of a division of 29 newspapers and magazines.