Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
One of my first assignments during a newspaper internship in college was obituaries, fairly tedious writing with no byline for a much desired clip. I will never forget how my editor emphasized how people really do read them and if you get something wrong, family members, already distraught by the loved one’s death, will confront you pretty quickly. Pressure, much?
We usually stay away from critiquing columns here since we focus on mainstream coverage of religion news. Occasionally, though, a columnist will use reporting to make claims about the state of religion.
Gentle readers, I have spent much of the day dodging tornadoes and hail on the interstate from Jackson, Tenn., to Guitar Town and I am exhausted. It will take all the energy I have left to type a few paragraphs that will point GetReligion readers toward one of the must-read journalistic items of the day.
To tell you the truth, I have always thought that it is very easy for first-person journalism — especially arts and entertainment criticism — to slip into vague, self-centered mush.
In light of his upcoming elevation into the red-hat crowd, I thought it would be good to dip into my GetReligion folder of guilt and take a look at that recent New York Times mini-profile of New York Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan.
As reporters often focus on brand new information, follow-up stories sometimes get left by the wayside. Tracking down a source or checking in on the end result of something might not lead to anything worth reporting. It’s nice to see NPR do some digging around on a story that was begging to be shared across the Internet.
A headline like “Pope charged for not wearing seat belt,” almost feels like a piece from The Onion, but sometimes truth is funnier than fiction.
Forgiveness, redemption and transformation stories tend to fascinate us. Often those themes don’t appear out of thin air, though. Sometimes there’s a life-changing moment, perhaps a conversion or decision. The Associated Press has a fascinating piece on a reformed skinhead who endured years of agony to remove tattoos, a story that touches on race, belief, family, recovery and more.
On Friday morning, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for womenâs rights to full participation in peace-building work.”
