Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
To my great satisfaction, a journalist has given serious coverage to the religious angle in the ongoing story of old churches being converted to new condos. Kathy McCabe of The Boston Globe does an excellent job of wading into the religious and spiritual significance of sacred places of worship being converted into high-end condo buildings.
The newspaper coverage of the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling that tossed out a lawsuit against a Pentecostal church over an incident that resulted in a 17-year-old girl being held down on the floor of the church has been more than solid. The two articles from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have been a model in careful use of religious language and balance.
Generally the newspaper coverage of the Justice Department report on illegal hiring practices has been really good. There is one glaring exception though: the lead in The Washington Post‘s A1 story. You have to wonder where the phrase “Christian lifestyle choices” came from.
Paul Z. Myers, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris, has made his best effort at enraging as many people as possible by defiling that which is considered sacred by millions around the globe. Some are even considering how his actions could possibly impact the “future of life in our pluralistic democracy.”
Readers of The Miami Herald‘s sports section may be wondering if the newspaper’s sports department is on the hunt to hire a religion expert. Based on the last couple of days of football coverage, it may not be a bad investment although they are doing fairly well with what they have at this point.
A telling story about Iowa Christian evangelicals denying a request from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, for a spot on the state’s delegation to the 2008 GOP Convention has prompted interesting speculation in various news articles over the last week. Robert Novak was the first to suggest that evangelicals tossed Grassley overboard for leading a Senate Finance Committee investigation of televangelists followed by The Washington Times on Monday.
During my 2003 summer internship at a medium-to-small size daily newspaper in the middle of America, I was assigned to report and write a local version of the latest development of the local Anglican church. The story was about how the local congregations on both sides of the river were facing a “crossroads over gay clergy, teachings.” By the way, those quoted words did not come from my story, but from a headline in Monday’s Detroit Free Press.
Much praise should be given to Amanda Greene of The Star-News in Wilmington, N.C., for turning what could have been a few boring press release re-writes into an interesting feature story. The key to the story is that it gives readers a sense for how religion has influenced the area’s history.
Meg Jones of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a thorough article recently on Amish beliefs and customs and their collision with local Wisconsin municipalities and state laws and regulations. I would cite the article as a good example of a reporter reaching out to learn about the beliefs and faith-based traditions of a group of people who are often not understood very well by the general public.
