Is "Active Publishers" a new concept?

by jwfacts 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jwfacts

  I just saw the Congregation Analysis Report for 2020, a form I have not noticed before. It asks for the number of "Active publishers." This is a term I have not seen specified before. Average publishers has long included baptised and unbaptised preachers, and there has always been the concept of being irregular if preaching at least once in the last six months, and inactive if not reporting for more than 6 months. In the past though, the annual report include average and peak publishers. Is there a reason for requesting Active publishers?

  From a statistical point of view, Active publishers is going to be higher than Average publishers. I am wondering if this will lead to replacing Average publishers with Active publishers to make the annual report look better, and make historical analysis difficult.

  
  
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  tiki

  I've been out of the cult for years, but I recall the term active pubs vs inactive pubs being used.....
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  pistolpete

  I was wondering why they hadn't done this a few years back. I knew it would only be a matter of time since the Organization is going through a drain. The only thing that surprises me is that they still hold on to the six consecutive months instead of changing it to 12 consecutive months for a member to become officially inactive.

  All they are doing now is trying to evade the inevitable for as long as possible.

  It's what I would do if my business was going sour!
  
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  truth_b_known

  As much as Jehovah's Witnesses leadership would like to separate the Watchtower corporation from the religion, they can't. They attempted to back in the mid-1990s be adopting the name "Christian Congregation of Jehovah's WItnesses" and ordered members to refrain from citing the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society as their ultimate authority (e.g. the phrase "The Society says..." was and is sometimes still used by members, but it is frowned upon now).

  The Watchtower is a publishing company (i.e. a business) masquerading as a religious organization to obtain tax exempt status. The fact that they even today still refer to members as "publishers" is proof of this.

  pub·lish·er

  /ˈpəbliSHər/

  Learn to pronounce

  noun

  a person or company that prepares and issues books, journals, music, or other works for sale.

  "the publishers of Vogue"

  I became a publisher in my youth in the 1980s. We still sold the magazines for $0.25 a piece. Books were like $1.50. We purchased the publications from Watchtower with cash and then re-sold them to the public. Monies collected from the public were then donated back to the Watchtower. So, the Watchtower was making $0.50 a magazine. All with free labor.
  Any corporation has reporting duties and has to due to as they are held accountable to one or more persons or groups (shareholders, the government, etc.). Knowing how many door-to-door salesmen there are that are active, how many hours a month they are working, and the amount of literature being sold is crucial to a publishing company.
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  polish clarinet

  a third condition was "irregular publisher" when one month in the 6 last months was missing. You were only "active" if every month in the 6 last months was OK
  
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  bats in the belfry

  -
  

  What an oxymoron: Inactive Publisher
  

  EITHER you are inactive OR you are a publisher. --- Not to be confused with the irregular type that is counted in their reports.

  BITB
  
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  Phizzy

  Inactive are counted, see the Form above. And called Inactive Publisher.
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  ScenicViewer

  I believe the idea of individual JWs being called publishers is, not because they publish books and magazines (the Watchtower organization does that), but because they proclaim information 'publicly.'

  On dictionary.com this is the 4th definition of publish ...

  4. to announce formally or officially; proclaim; promulgate.

  The most common use of 'publish' is to make books etc, but to announce something verbally is still a way of publishing, which is what the individual JW does.
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  zophar

  My recollection as a former PO and Secretary is that “Active Publishers” has been on the analysis report for several years now Paul.
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  steve2

  My recollection as a former PO and Secretary is that “Active Publishers” has been on the analysis report for several years now Paul.

  Agreed. This is not new - although, as others have guessed, this may well become a part of their annual Service Year Report for 2020 - given the dramatic hit numbers in each category will have taken due to Covid-19.