One debate down, one to go

Clearing the air may make room for a good look at the real issue | Joel Belz

With the end of October came some mostly welcome news from the office of the Evangelical Press Association. EPA's board of directors had voted unanimously at its regular fall meeting not to pursue any further charges against WORLD magazine. The charges of "unethical journalism" had been leveled last spring by Zondervan Publishing House and the International Bible Society after WORLD exposed efforts to make the New International Version of the Bible gender-neutral in its language.

EPA's action last week represented a significant about-face from a much-publicized report issued in July under the organization's auspices. That report, prepared by an EPA ad hoc committee but never approved by the EPA board, included statements sharply critical of WORLD. Now EPA's board has publicly determined that the original report has "no standing."Last week's report also noted that "the case has raised a number of substantive journalistic issues, and it is clear to us that our current Code of Ethics and our process for dealing with complaints are inadequate. Therefore we have decided to conclude EPA's involvement in this case without rendering judgment.... [W]e will now turn to our own housekeeping. We will review our Code of Ethics and revise our bylaws as necessary to provide procedures adequate for handling ethics cases." For EPA's withdrawal from this case, WORLD is grateful. It is an important step.