Then along came Greg. Greg Albrecht. Exactly how the ownership of The Plain Truth passed to Greg is not entirely clear to me. Why it was offered up in a church 'fire sale' of assets is also unclear. But it was. Greg quickly drove down circulation, which probably wasn't his intention. Greg also relaunched himself, no longer a senior minister in an abusive sect but, believe it or not, an advocate of niceness-saturated, religion-free Christianity.
Even unto this very day, the Albrecht Plain Truth endures. Not so glossy. Eight pages long. Published six times a year, circulation undisclosed. Fair to say, I suspect, that it's widely ignored and a mere shadow of its former self.
What is striking about the January/February PT is just how much of the entire issue is written by Editor-in-Chief Greg. Ruth Tucker has a one page column, and the back cover is the usual pot pouri of fluff, leaving six pages. How many of these are written by Greg Albrecht?
All of them.
Even in the days of Herbert Armstrong it would be hard to find this level of journalistic narcissism.
Available in flipping format (to keep Douglas happy) and - for the rest of us - PDF.
As for whether the Albrecht-sodden PT has equally questionable content as its predecessor, I'll let you be the judge.
We really need another Armstrongist inspired publication: The Ignored Truth.
ReplyDeleteIt also won't live up to its name, seeing as how the 'ignored' part is spot on but 'truth' is fiction.
There have been in the past, publications which one person started up as an individual effort, and that person dominated them for a while. As they grew, other names began to appear, giving them a more varied or pleasing flavor. The problem which I see here, is that this particular publication, or this particular "brand" has been on a negative growth pattern for several decades, and the brand name no longer embodies the essence of the original product. With a vastly lower circulation, and reduced number of yearly issues, it has become a last ditch survival effort, imprinted with the beliefs of one man. In defense of Greg, whom I once knew, I did find some valuable ideas, a few nuggets, in the issue in point. I, and my team, are the people who used to address millions of this branded product for the mail each month. Obviously, the PT as we once knew it, has been reduced in all measurable ways. While it is difficult to see that as a positive, at least there are no portraits of starving African babies on the cover, or pictures of Greg at the airport with his jet in the background, having landed in Ethiopia, or pictures of him presenting world dignitaries with Steuben Crystal.
ReplyDeleteBB
Maybe Greg just doesn't have anybody else to write articles for The Plain Truth. Kinda like HWA at the beginning. Except, like Bob says, this isn't the beginning it's the end. Maybe the Plain Truth has come full cycle and is like a human being: helpless when we're first born and helpless again when we're about to die.
ReplyDelete"Christianity without the Religion"
ReplyDeleteWhat a great Gimmick!
Will it work?
In California?
LA LA Land?
Adopted Mecca of the Seventh-day Adventists?