Editorial: Money, transparency and news coverage of the Orthodox Church

We started this website as a labor of love. Our aim was, and remains, the same: to be the most comprehensive English-language news website on the Orthodox Church.

Shortly after our launch at the very beginning of January, “Romfea News” also rolled out. We took this as a complement and an acknowledgement that there is an important news gap to fill in the English-language for the Orthodox Church.

Romfea News was an offshoot of “Romfea.gr” – the Greek-language based website. A few months after its initial launch, Romfea News become the “Orthodox Times,” yet another play on our website’s name, The Orthodox World. Complement number two!

In recent years, as its popularity grew, the main Romfea page became very pro-Russian. They would diminish news from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and often feature Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk whenever the latter had a message he wanted to convey to Greek hierarchs and wider Orthodoxy. It was rumored and accepted by many that the Church of Russia paid Romfea for preferential treatment and news coverage.

As of late, many have commented on the subtle shift of Romfea and particularly the Orthodox Times to a more pro-Constantinople position. Many wondered why. We may now know the answer: money.

According to the USAspending.gov website, Romfea.gr received a $100,000 grant from the Department of State for October 1, 2018 to October 31, 2019 ($100,000 goes a long way in Greece). The description why is here:

TO COUNTER ENTITIES SPREADING FAKE NEWS & MISGUIDING BELIEVERS IN ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES BY MONITORING MEDIA & EXPANDING REACH OF NEWS PORTAL ROMFEA.GR

The lack of transparency for this funding and the lack of public acknowledgement by Romfea personnel that editorial decisions and news coverage are being dictated by a third-party is troubling. Nowhere on its “About Us” page does the Orthodox Times declare this financial assistance or conflict of interest. Is this an acceptable journalistic standard? We ask you the reader.

On our own “About” page, we state: The Orthodox World will not advance geo-political strategies or ideological positioning. It will, however, unabashedly and unapologetically support and advance Christ and His Church.

This is what we have done and this is what we will continue to do. We receive no funding from any third-party or government.

We do not seek to have countless stories and news articles. We carefully curate what appears on our website. Our approach has always been quality over quantity. Moreover, we do not use Google Translate or post one paragraph articles to simply generate traffic to our website.

The feedback we have received in the past year has been genuine, because we have been genuine in our efforts. Additionally, we are proud to have published so many exclusive stories and editorials – important Orthodox content not found anywhere else. Examples include:

• International Orthodox Academic Theologians Appeal to the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church to Protect Academic Thought
• Interview with Archbishop Job: “The transfer of the relics of St. Peter from Rome to Constantinople is a prophetic sign.”
• Interview with Archbishop Nikitas: “The only real hope and solution is Christ.”
• Are these the two faces of Orthodoxy?
• The Sunday of Orthodoxy, Reconciliation, and Ukraine

We thank our readers and supporters and close with a final request: if you appreciate our website; if you appreciate our work; if you appreciate transparent and no conflict of interest reporting on Orthodoxy … you can support our website by making a secure online donation.

Merry Christmas to all,

Nikodemos and Team

The Orthodox World