Publishing newspapers and proclaiming the Good News

(July 8, 2001)

John Tompkins and Mike Tompkins, president and vice president respectively of News Media Corporation, own 48 newspapers in nine states. They are members of First Assembly of God, Rockford, Ill. (Sam Mayo, pastor), where they team teach Principles of Success, an adult Sunday school class. They spoke recently with Hal Donaldson, editor in chief, about using their positions in business to influence others for the kingdom of God.

Evangel: How did News Media Corporation start?

John Tompkins: "We focus on newspapers in communities of 4,500 to 50,000."

John: I was attending Purdue University in Hammond, Ind., and working at the local newspaper. Both Mike and I were trained there. I did some research on young business people and started putting together a corporation with shareholders and looking for a newspaper to buy. I was 21.

Our father was a manager for Howard Publications — the chain we were trained in. So we grew up in the newspaper business, but not as owners. News Media Corporation was founded in 1975.

Mike Tompkins: "We believe it’s our responsibility to lead with a strong moral voice in each town."

Mike: I was an assistant city editor at the daily that John and I were trained on. I took over editorial and circulation on our first weekly in 1978.

Evangel: What are some keys to the success of your company?

John: We focus on newspapers in communities of 4,500 to 50,000. God has given us a unique financial model and formulas that have allowed us to have a high growth rate without getting over-extended financially. And from the beginning God has supplied key people to help us.

We also tithe. In the early ’80s, I quit tithing for several reasons, and the business went down like a rock. When I started tithing again — which I did quickly — we went straight up.

Mike: The mission of our company is to be the best small-town newspaper company in the nation, to raise finances which are dedicated to God, and provide careers where people’s God-given talents can be developed.

Evangel: Explain the role faith in God plays in your business.

John: I can think of many examples of the practical application of God’s Word and faith.

When we see an opportunity to expand, we just give it to God and say, "Whatever You want to do is fine. We don’t know for sure if You want us to have this acquisition, but we’re going to do our part and work hard and try to get it done. But either way, it’s up to You."

And because we do that in faith, miraculous things happen. We’ve learned even to try to go through closed doors if they seem to make sense. But if doors slam in our faces several times, then we don’t.

Evangel: How do you choose between expressing personal beliefs in your newspapers and objective reporting?

Mike: Every time we buy a newspaper, we’re taking back dominion of an area of the media that rightly belongs to God. We believe it is our responsibility to lead with a strong moral voice in each town.

John: We have local editors and managers. My belief is: If you own the only newspaper in town, you have a requirement to let all voices be heard through it. It’s a public trust.

Evangel: How do you balance family, business and church?

Mike: I have my calling — what God has designed me to do. Then I have my family second. Third, I have my ministry.

For instance, I’ve been called to run a newspaper company and to raise seed money for gospel ministry. I’ve also been called to teach the Word. My family has to be next. I balance the time by putting it in that priority. I don’t spend time in areas that are not my calling, my family or my ministry. If there is anything outside those boundaries, I need to evaluate and discard it if it is interfering with those areas.

John: If you have your relationships in order — God first, then family and then business — that’s the priority order I look at. You must do an exemplary job in your vocation or career. To do a poor job there is going to result in a bad witness.

For example, let’s say Mike, who is a deacon, has to choose between attending a fairly routine church board meeting or representing our company in an important issue somewhere across the country. I would say, "Mike, you’re going to represent the company because that’s your main calling and your main witness."

Now, say it’s a very important board meeting, where they will vote on a building project. Representing the company somewhere else in the country can be done later or somebody else can go.

You have to look at each case and use the brain God gave you.

Evangel: Anything else?

John: Businesses were primarily owned and run by Christians for the first 200 years of this country. Something happened about 100 years ago when Christians retreated into just their churches — the Christian ghetto mentality. So Satan was easily able to fill that vacuum by hijacking some of those businesses. God is calling people to get outside the walls of their churches and take their places in the world.

Mike: What’s going to turn this nation around is Christians taking leadership roles in the culture. Faithful Christians spend about two hours a week in church; they spend the rest of their lives outside those four walls. Unfortunately, some go into hiding when they’re outside those walls.

In whatever ministry, business or secular vocation God has placed them, they are to take dominion over that. The world outside the walls of the local church belongs to God; it doesn’t belong to Satan. Your business, your job, your home, your neighborhood and city belong to God — no matter what they look like right now. We’re about equipping people to take dominion for God where they spend the bulk of their lives. That’s where ministry is. That’s where Jesus spent most of His time.