The GA Zette is at a crossroads. Its survival depends on you!

From Louise Reeve: Since the 1960s, the GA Zette has reported on the goings-on of the General Assembly Annual Meetings, led by young Unitarians and supported by Foy Society. Whilst there’s still a demand for it, in recent years, it’s become harder to sustain the paper production, and without new volunteers, the Zette may have to stop.

Last year, the Zette’s long-term editor David Warhurst and myself invited Unitarians to complete a short survey (online and in paper) about the GA Zette, and its future direction. Respondents were most likely regular attendees of the Annual Meetings who were already familiar with the Zette. We received a total of 73 responses to the survey, though not all respondents answered all of the questions. We also held an in-person discussion at the 2025 Annual Meetings, during which 15 people discussed the Zette’s future.

Around 80% of survey respondents (52 out of the 65 who answered) said that the most valuable aspect of the Zette was helping them to catch up on missed sessions and workshops held at the Annual Meetings.When asked how they’d feel if the Zette was discontinued, almost half of respondents said they would miss it a lot, which was also the most common response. They survey also asked respondents to consider possible future formats for the Zette – the most popular response was more online options which could be accessed via smartphones or tablets.

The situation

Due to resource constraints and lack of volunteers, it’s no longer possible to produce paper copies of the Zette overnight. Moving forward, neither myself nor David Warhurst can take on the role of Zette editor. We’ll likely need two or more editors, guided by general principles for editorial consistency. Could this be you?

As the survey shows, there’s clear enthusiasm for real-time reporting from those unable to attend the Meetings, as well as those present who miss workshops due to other commitments. There’s also a desire for more digital formats.

The solution

So, perhaps the way forward is to switch to online as the default method of access – with a print option for those who need it. This would be made far easier by a number of reporters, who can cover more of the events.

Whichever form the Zette takes, editorial oversight will be needed to check that content is appropriate, error-free, and high-quality. Video content, for example, needs to be of a sufficient visual and audio quality.

The Inquirer has offered to team up with the General Assembly’s new Communications lead to share updates and videos via Instagram and Facebook. However, if we’re going to have long-form updates on sessions or decisions in the Zette during the Annual Meetings, someone will need to step forwards as editor, as I can’t attend the meetings in 2026 (although there will be the usual updates after the event in the April and May editions of The Inquirer).

The ask

When asked how they could help sustain and support the GA Zette, respondents’ most popular answer was writing event summaries. Other responses are shown in the table below. Based on these answers, we could already have a team of GA Zetters… And I’d be happy to coordinate and convene this group to get things off the ground!

To keep the GA Zette alive, we need volunteers to start a new era for it. Please contact me at: louise.reeve@newcastleunitarians.org.uk if you feel you could be part of a new GA Zette team, and let’s move into the future!