Print in an online world: A fight for survival

The thing about LifeLines is the publication is really good. It’s a mere four pages (one issue each month is eight pages) printed in four-color glossy. The stories are well written. The photography is rarely canned—candid, professional- looking shots grace the pages of LifeLines. The layout expertly compliments this divine design.

The day LifeLines is no more is a sad day for employee communications.

But that day won’t come if the editor of LifeLines has anything to say about it.

Kelly Davis Shrout has edited LifeLines for three years. Shrout said she will continue to push LifeLines as a print vehicle as long as she works for LifeWay. Results from the last reader survey (three years ago) indicated more than half of LifeLines readers preferred it in print. But that doesn’t mean Shrout has ignored online. In fact, the staff of LifeLines is exemplary in its integration of print and online. The staff airs podcasts on its Web site which often become print articles. IntraLife, the company’s intranet, offers photo slideshows and Web extras not available in LifeLines. Shrout said her staff is currently planning a blogging strategy.