Tomorrow – Saturday, 17 July – the Spiritualists’ National Union will announce at its annual general meeting in Blackpool that it has decided to kill off the weekly newspaper Psychic News.
The editor and staff have received notice that the next issue, dated 24 July 2010, will be the last that will be published.
In making that decision, the SNU has allowed the guillotine to fall unceremoniously and with little warning on a publication that has been the global voice of Spiritualism, its phenomena and philosophy for the past 78 years.
I discussed this possible outcome on 10 July, but at that time I was hopeful that, behind the scenes, the supporters of
Psychic News within the SNU would win the day, or at least buy enough time to allow others in the Spiritualist movement to offer support and come up with a solution.
That has not happened. For whatever reasons, those who have made this decision have viewed the dire financial situation that has faced Psychic News as a problem for the SNU only. They have, therefore, decided to cut their losses.
What is not understandable is why these dedicated Spiritualists have not taken account of the importance of Psychic News as an independent voice of Spiritualism, and sought help from other organisations within the movement to ensure that it continues to publish.
As I have already outlined, ownership of Psychic News was transferred from the Spiritual Truth Foundation (STF), with which I am associated, in the mid-1990s. When its losses became too great, we were faced with closing it down or finding a solution that would extend its life. The SNU came to the rescue and the newspaper has continued for another decade-and-a-half with its support.
What I don’t understand is why, having now found itself in a similar situation, the SNU appears not to have searched for a solution beyond the confines of its own organisation, as the STF did. In fact,
I believe I am correct in saying that it has deliberately kept other Spiritualist organisations, as well as its own membership, in the dark about its plans.
Representing the STF, I offered to finance a marketing campaign that would promote the newspaper in the hope of attracting new subscribers and a much-needed influx of income. I know, for a fact, that finance was also offered from other sources. So, why has the SNU rejected these
offers?
The SNU leadership has clearly made up its mind. The only hope now is that its membership, meeting in Blackpool this weekend, will rise up and refuse to sign the death sentence on a newspaper that was celebrating the reality of Spiritualism and an after-life long before most
of them were born.
Psychic News’ demise will leave a void that will be impossible to fill. No other existing publication comes close to providing its readers with the breadth of coverage that it offers.
It is, without doubt, a tragedy for global Spiritualism.