To our friends: The news media have a difficult time understanding organizations like our own. Every once in awhile, it’s obvious that they aren’t even trying. That’s the situation with an online article from Time magazine posted Thursday.
The reporter spent nearly half an hour on the phone with Focus President Jim Daly, and, as you’ll see below, she ignored most of the clarifying information he provided, only including four partial quotes from him in her story, ranging from 1 to 15 words. Interestingly, before their interview even began, the reporter apologized to Jim for the nature of the questions she was asking; perhaps she knew even then that her editors already had their script for the story written, no matter what the facts revealed.
What appears below is Time’s online article (in black), interspersed with facts Jim gave the reporter that weren’t deemed worthy for the story (in red).
Is Dobson's Political Clout Fading?
By Rita Healy/Denver
James Dobson, the founder and head of the evangelical media and counseling group Focus on the Family, is constantly described by the media as a power broker, kingmaker, and "the Christian right's most powerful leader." As such, his endorsement is seen as key by GOP presidential candidates in the 2008 race. On Wednesday night, his political action website Citizenlink.com released assessments of the major Democratic and Republican candidates — and political observers immediately checked in to see whether Dobson's organization was leaning toward Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney, the two GOP candidates who have made the biggest play for the evangelical vote. As Focus on the Family weighs in on the presidential race, however, an examination of the group's records shows that its influence may not be all that it once was, and that its actual base may have become smaller.
For months, Dobson has been playing it coy, seeming to favoring (sic) the Mormon Mitt Romney over Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee, who would otherwise appear to be the natural Christian right choice. In December, Dr. Dobson praised a Romney speech as "a magnificent reminder of the role religious faith must play in government and public policy. His delivery was passionate and his message inspirational." Dobson even made a congratulatory phone call to the candidate.
When Romney lost the Iowa caucuses to Huckabee, Dobson attributed the outcome to "conservative Christians," but he has not warmed to the former governor of Arkansas. Huckabee, Dobson cautioned after his Iowa victory, "may not become the Republican nominee." And Huckabee, who has spoken of his great and longtime friendship with the Dobsons, has wondered aloud why no endorsement appears to be coming his way. In the Citizenlink.com assessments, Huckabee was found wanting in terms of foreign policy and "fiscal" issues. (A couple of minutes in the video citing the candidate for his evangelical "authenticity" were apparently edited in after the video was first posted.) Romney, on the other hand, was praised as "solidly conservative" and unlikely to renege on that stance.
Dobson has only endorsed one presidential candidate in the past — George W. Bush in 2004, who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination. And the Christian right's most powerful leader may not want to back a candidate so early in the game. Backing a losing horse could devalue the worth of any future Dobson anointment, especially when America is seeing the rise of a younger generation of less combative preachers like Rick Warren, Joel Osteen and Bill Hybels.
The founder of the Colorado Springs-based organization may have reason to be concerned about his influence. At the age of 71 and semi-retired from the day-to-day operations of his organization, Dobson is seeing Focus on the Family's fortunes wane — CEO Jim Daly describes them as "flat" — perhaps an inevitability for a ministry pegged to one towering figure. The ministry's expenses have exceeded its revenues for two years — what Daly calls a "drawdown from reserves" — by $4.1 million in fiscal year 2006 and by $9.9 million in 2005. (Figures for 2007 have not yet been released.)
Jim Daly explained to the reporter that since nonprofit organizations have no shareholders to pay dividends to, such drawdowns are common. If in some years there is a surplus, we will plan to use those resources in the next fiscal year. The reporter did not carry this part of the response, however.
Neither did the reporter include an array of statistics Jim gave her that reflected positive trends in Focus on the Family’s giving (up 7 to 10 percent over the same time last year for the first fiscal quarter) and an 80 percent increase in new names to the ministry.
Moreover, Jim stressed that Dr. Dobson is far from “semi-retired” – he remains actively engaged in the ministry’s work through his daily radio broadcast, monthly newsletters, personal appearances and books, not to mention his role as chairman of the ministry’s board of directors. Most workweeks far exceed 40 hours – not counting the stack of papers he brings home every night.
The ministry apparently has been "flat" for some time. For example, in 1994 Dobson's monthly newsletter had a circulation of 2.4 million copies. Today, that circulation is about 1.1 million. Also, in the 1990s, Dobson was drawing audiences of 15,000 or more to his speeches; but in the lead-up to the 2006 mid-term election, only about 1,000 people heard his anti-abortion speech at the 2,500-seat Mt. Rushmore National Monument amphitheatre. Daly explains that the event was a last-minute invitation and that Dobson rarely accepts speaking engagements.Jim explained to the reporter that the Mt. Rushmore event was not ours. It was organized at the last minute to draw attention to a pro-life initiative on the South Dakota ballot; Dr. Dobson agreed to come because of his devotion to the cause of the preborn, not because of any concern about audience size. But the reporter didn’t include this part of the answer.
According to news accounts and audited financial reports posted online for potential donors, the organization's staffing is down (30 layoffs last September). Total donations and number of donors are down as well. Focus orders and resells copies of Dobson's tapes and books, which are the evangelist's personal business; but those purchases have declined from $678,000 in 2004 to $269,000 in 2006. His last book was published in 2001; another is not anticipated until 2009. The whole Dobson family, including wife Shirley, daughter Danae and son Ryan, produce books and tapes, but revenue from all Dobson-family materials are down, from $781,000 in 2004 to $307,000 in 2006.
Jim explained that Focus is only one source for sales of Dr. Dobson’s books, and we cannot compete with the bigger retail outlets, such as chain bookstores, Amazon.com and Wal-Mart. Their prices always beat our suggested donation amount. In addition, Dr. Dobson donates his royalties to Focus for those resources offered by Focus. The reporter ignored all of this.
It is also interesting to note that of all the statistics Time dug up, it couldn’t find the easily accessible figure that Dr. Dobson’s most recent book, Bringing Up Boys (released in 2001) sold more than 1 million copies in its first year – far exceeding first-year sales of any of his previous books.
As the reader will also understand, sales of every author’s books decline over time. Otherwise, the best-sellers would remain at the top of the list perpetually. What kind of ridiculous point was Time trying to make by saying Dr. Dobson’s previous books are declining? What a shocking revelation!
His radio broadcasts have a reported audience of 220 million people around the world, a number that has remained unchanged for many years. It is estimated that up to 8.9 million people in the U.S. hear his programs, although Arbitron says that figure is difficult to verify because statistics are garnered from time slots on local stations, not individual programs. A recent issue of Dobson's Focus on the Family Magazine highlighted his widely dispersed global audience: "Indonesia now has a potential Focus audience of 70 million people. In Malaysia each year, Focus airs hundreds of 90-second James Dobson commentaries in Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, over the public address system in supermarkets, and on the radio to a predominantly Muslim population of more than 24 million."
Even Focus on the Family Action — Dobson's most recent project, founded in 2004 to help steer public policy — seems stalled. Daly says Action's fortunes are tied to "hot issues in the public square"; in his letter to potential donors, Dobson offers "occasional specific voting recommendations on ballot measures in your area and on a national level." But contributions declined from $8.8 million in 2004, its start-up year, to $6.8 million in 2006, while website hits fell from 18,000 monthly in 2005 to 8,700 monthly in 2006. A Focus spokesperson says Focus Action is not the main public policy website and that CitizenLink.com, where the candidate assessments were announced, is doing much better.
Actually, Jim told the reporter that traffic on our Web sites is at an all-time high, that some 80,000 people a day, or 29 million a year, now visit us online at one of our many Internet destinations. This statistic didn’t fit the preconceived story, so Time ignored it.
As for the support of Focus Action, it follows the interest of the culture, Jim noted. Simple logic dictates that a year like 2004 – in which there was a presidential election as well as a spate of state marriage-protection amendments on the ballot – would generate more voter interest and donor activity than an off-year election like 2006 – in which far fewer Americans cast ballots than in 2004.Dobson has nimbly kept his footing atop the evangelical heap, a position he has built since the 1970s. He has never been tainted by personal scandal and has regularly been consulted by Presidents, including the current Bush White House. Just last month, a federal judge temporarily allowed the Bush administration to keep its list of visitors to the White House secret, a list sought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington specifically trying to track visits by Dobson and other conservative religious leaders. But some political observers feel that his influence on the President is overstated. If so, making the right endorsement in the '08 race may be more important to him than ever.
With reporting by Michael Scherer
Apparently Time cannot make up its mind about whether Dr. Dobson, Focus on the Family and Focus on the Family Action are significant or not. In another article posted on its Web site on Thursday, one of the same reporters who contributed to this piece wrote about our Focus on the Family Action webcasts, which cover the primary election issues. The original headline on that other article – it was changed by Friday morning -- called us “powerbrokers.” So either we are “powerful” or “fading.” It’s just that Time cannot decide which it is.
You can read more about our response to that other Time online article by clicking here.
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Let Time’s news executives know – respectfully -- exactly how you feel about their unfair reporting of this story. You can send an e-mail to the magazine’s headquarters by clicking this link.
