Public and Study Watchtowers

[jwhess]

This morning, I made a mistake in mixing up the Study Watchtower with the Public version.  This got me to thinking.  It has been 13 years since we separated the issues.  In January of 2008 we officially started printing the Public edition on the 1st of each month and the Study Edition on the 15th of each month.  There were still 24 individual magazines for each year (same number as when they were combined editions).

 

At first there were picture covers on the Public versions but a "stylized" Watchtower picture on the Study copies.  This cover was reminiscent of the "old" 1950s WT.  Later the number of Public magazines were reduced to six issues and later to 3 issues.  The magazines were reduced from 32 pages to 16 pages.

 

I was wondering how the members here felt about the separation and later the reduction in number and size.  Is there a feature you like now or one that you miss?  Do you think the distribution of the Public Edition will continue to grow or will it stabilize or slowly shrink as we develop more and more digital-electronic offerings and focus on Bible Studies?

Edited September 22, 2021 by jwhess

[carlos]

I liked the change. It didn't really make sense to give people a magazine which contained study articles that were far beyond their understanding. It seems more logical to have two different publications, one internal with study articles and other material just for Witnesses, and a different one for the public.

 

On the other hand, the current situation is strange too. We have a study and a public edition of The Watchtower which are actually two completely different publications. Then we have Awake! which is identical with the public edition of The Watchtower and published every four months too.

 

IMO it would make more sense to call the study edition of The Watchtower simply The Watchtower, and call the other public magazine Awake!, published bimonthly.

 

 

[jwhess]

I remember when the publishers were told not to renew their subscriptions to the Watchtower and Awake to save the shipping, handling and postage.  We were told to get our magazines at the literature counter. I am sure more changes are coming.

[Susan Cook]

5 hours ago, jwhess said:

I remember when the publishers were told not to renew their subscriptions to the Watchtower and Awake to save the shipping, handling and postage.  We were told to get our magazines at the literature counter. I am sure more changes are coming.

They’ve already considerably pared down frequency and hard copy distribution.. Bro. Morris said ( at an AM ) that at some point we will just re offer earlier magazines

 

 

[JohnFromOz]

12 hours ago, jwhess said:

Later the number of Public magazines were reduced to six issues and later to 3 issues.  The magazines were reduced from 32 pages to 16 pages.

And beginning in 2022 we will only have 1 new public Watchtower issue and 1 new Awake! issue. The other 2 will be reprints of previous issues.

[jwhess]

2 hours ago, JohnFromOz said:

And beginning in 2022 we will only have 1 new public Watchtower issue and 1 new Awake! issue. The other 2 will be reprints of previous issues.

I know the elders received information about 2022 but i was not aware that it was for public announcement.

[Sofia]

On 9/22/2021 at 11:48 PM, jwhess said:

slowly shrink as we develop more and more digital-electronic offerings and focus on Bible Studies?

I think this will happen

less magazines for the public

 

13 hours ago, JohnFromOz said:

And beginning in 2022 we will only have 1 new public Watchtower issue and 1 new Awake! issue. The other 2 will be reprints of previous issues.

Oh so my guess was right after all

glad to know I keep up the pace 🤗

[Sofia]

On 9/23/2021 at 12:11 AM, jwhess said:

I remember when the publishers were told not to renew their subscriptions to the Watchtower and Awake to save the shipping, handling and postage.  We were told to get our magazines at the literature counter. I am sure more changes are coming.

I remember that 

[sis little]

20 hours ago, Susan Cook said:

They’ve already considerably pared down frequency and hard copy distribution.. Bro. Morris said ( at an AM ) that at some point we will just re offer earlier magazines

 

 

We are doing this now.

 

[Brother_Bliss]

I never minded the split, although I would have made The Watchtower an internal magazine that we study on Sundays and would have come up with a new name for the public magazine (hey this is new, this is fresh, and nobody will see the word 'watchtower' and shut the door, lol). 

 

It's clear that we're not phasing out, but greatly reducing the distribution of printed literature. Most printed things today are thrown away and never read (phone books, weekly grocery circulars, free city newspapers, etc.) so it makes sense that we are only handing them out to those who are sincerely interested. 

[Michał]

On 9/23/2021 at 4:04 PM, jwhess said:

I know the elders received information about 2022 but i was not aware that it was for public announcement.

I think it (or something really similar) was read at our meeting one month ago or something like that. Or I just had a prophetic dream 🤷🏻‍♂️

[jwhess]

3 minutes ago, Michał said:

I think it (or something really similar) was read at our meeting one month ago or something like that. Or I just had a prophetic dream 🤷🏻‍♂️

The S-147 announcement is divided between the parts that are for elders 9or specific elders) and the parts to be read to the congregation.  In this announcement, the information alluded to is NOT in the "congregation" part of the announcement.

 

Someone may have personal information or be an elder who misunderstood the section or someone who thought they overheard something but I am not aware of any "public congregation" announcement (in print) about this matter.

 

[Michał]

1 minute ago, jwhess said:

The S-147 announcement is divided between the parts that are for elders 9or specific elders) and the parts to be read to the congregation.  In this announcement, the information alluded to is NOT in the "congregation" part of the announcement.

 

Someone may have personal information or be an elder who misunderstood the section or someone who thought they overheard something but I am not aware of any "public congregation" announcement (in print) about this matter.

 

That’s very likely. I know I heard something like that but can’t remember where exactly

[Sofia]

At Our LMMWB for january it shows a public watchtower #3 / 2018. "Does God care about you?" for the presentations

will it be a reprint for #1 2022?

I imagine that the new one for 2022 can be #2 - and will be possibly used at a campaign like these last 2 years (?)

How exciting!

[Luigi62]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:40 AM, Sofia said:

At Our LMMWB for january it shows a public watchtower #3 / 2018. "Does God care about you?" for the presentations

will it be a reprint for #1 2022?

I imagine that the new one for 2022 can be #2 - and will be possibly used at a campaign like these last 2 years (?)

How exciting!

Yes The Watchtower #3 2018, "Does God care about you?" will be repinted. Bro Morris said at the 2017 AM, "We will just reprint."

 

Its now happening from 2022.

Edited October 16, 2021 by Luigi62

[James the Less]

4 hours ago, Luigi62 said:

Yes The Watchtower #3 2018, "Does God care about you?" will be repinted. Bro Morris said at the 2017 AM, "We will just reprint."

 

Its now happening from 2022.

We will still have some new public magazines next year.

[Doug]

On 9/25/2021 at 2:17 PM, Dismal_Bliss said:

I would have made The Watchtower an internal magazine that we study on Sundays and would have come up with a new name for the public magazine (hey this is new, this is fresh, and nobody will see the word 'watchtower' and shut the door, lol). 

 

We have been trying to out-smart, out-maneuver and/or trick them into listening for ages.  How many times have we identified ourselves as Bible Students and NOT as  Jehovah's Witnesses?   We just want them to get the help they need  .   .   whatever works.

 

Any thoughts on what your name for the public magazine would be?   That's big assignment , especially if trying to stay with the 'one word' title.

[jwhess]

In view of the coming use of older magazines as noted in a couple of recent announcements, we have received a couple of hundred 2018 magazines.

 

Yesterday I noticed something different about them.  

 

They have NO ISSUE number or date on the front cover (see the scan below.  In the fine print on the inside cover where it tells you how man and where printed, you can find "Vol139,No. 11, 2018 English"  (it is written pretty small).

 

 

[James the Less]

56 minutes ago, jwhess said:

In view of the coming use of older magazines as noted in a couple of recent announcements, we have received a couple of hundred 2018 magazines.

 

Yesterday I noticed something different about them.  

 

They have NO ISSUE number or date on the front cover (see the scan below.  In the fine print on the inside cover where it tells you how man and where printed, you can find "Vol139,No. 11, 2018 English"  (it is written pretty small).

 

 

This is great. Emphasises the timeliness of the material regardless of when it was printed. We were being prepared for this change ever since 2016 when the issue date changed to numbers for the year instead.

 

Now I just wonder why they still retain ‘The Watchtower’ and ‘Awake!’ headings and didn’t just reformat them into brochures. Our magazines are periodical literature, and magazines are typically published weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Now we are only going to be receiving one new issue of The Watchtower and Awake! per year for 2022. Can it still rightly be called a a magazine if it only comes out once a year? Why not discontinue Awake!, keep The Watchtower as the study edition only, and publish two new brochures for use in the ministry instead of keeping the public magazines going?

[Lee49]

It seems to me , everything is going to electronic only versions and printing your own downloads for a hard copy. Just my thought. Think about the time / cost savings and easier distributions from the many branches and different languages that are being distributed !

[Sheep]

1 hour ago, jwhess said:

. . . They have NO ISSUE number or date on the front cover (see the scan below.  In the fine print on the inside cover where it tells you how man and where printed, you can find "Vol139,No. 11, 2018 English"  (it is written pretty small).

The date is not on the cover of the online version anymore either.

 

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-no3-2018-sep-oct/

[Sheep]

It's the same for the magazine for March/April (no date or issue number):

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/awake-no3-2018-nov-dec/

 

The others have not been changed yet:

September/October:

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/watchtower-no2-2019-may-jun/

November/December:

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/awake-no1-2019-mar-apr/

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Sheep

[koala1999]

Does anyone know what the organization is going to do with the big printers, since the printing of publications has been greatly reduced.
If they are down, they will continue to need maintenance.

[Thesauron]

Does anyone know what the organization is going to do with the big printers, since the printing of publications has been greatly reduced.
If they are down, they will continue to need maintenance.

A lot is still printed. Reducing the number of printed issues will allow us to print more languages quicker. Most printeries run their machinery 24/7.

[Michał]

2 hours ago, koala1999 said:

Does anyone know what the organization is going to do with the big printers, since the printing of publications has been greatly reduced.
If they are down, they will continue to need maintenance.

When NWT are announced in new languages there is info that printed copies are going to be available in 2022. So I guess, Bibles are going to be focused in 2022