A "Gute Nachrichten" subscriber in Volkmarsen, a town north of Frankfurt not far from Kassel, wrote to cancel his subscription. He explained why in a terse note: "War, fighting, strife, arguing? I can get that via television! Don’t send me your Good News any more, or else I’ll send it back at your expense." It seems this fellow is not very cost-conscious!

In Germany – as in most other European countries – anyone who uses a televison and/or radio has to pay a monthly fee to the government. The fee covers part of the cost of state-run radio and TV. So this ex-subscriber could get "War, fighting and strife" via "Gute Nachrichten" for free, since it is a free magazine. Instead, he would rather pay the government the US$ 29 monthly fee to watch TV and get the same thing. Maybe we should use that as an advertizing ploy!

Actually his comments reflect the disappointment that some people experience when they order "Gute Nachrichten" ["Good News"], only to find that we publish articles with bad news: today’s conditions. We have our usual explanation for this, of course. We do present good news about the future, but in today’s world there is a lot of bad news and we report on that, too.

"Good News" is a very religious title for a magazine in Europe. Before "Gute Nachrichten" was launched as part of an international publishing effort, I was asked – a rare occurrence indeed! – for input on what the title for the magazine should be.

I said "Answers". The title is easily translated in all languages, was not in use – to my knowledge anyway – and "fits" better in other languages than some translations of "news" (like "Nachrichten").

We also have answers! Anyway, my suggestion went into the recycle bin on the floor, so we use a subtitle for "Gute Nachrichten": Answers for today and tomorrow.