Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Coverage of the 11-year-old girl’s repeated gang rapes in Texas continued this week as 19 boys and men have been charged. Court records suggest that the assaults happened on at least four dates between September and November.
It’s encouraging to see news outlets continuing to cover the death of a 14-year-old girl who was accused of adultery and sentenced to 101 lashes.
Geraldine Ferraro, the first female vice presidential candidate on a major party presidential ticket, died today, and we’re scanning the obituaries for evidence of her faith. For instance, if you read Politico, you wouldn’t know that she was Catholic or struggled with religious leaders over her pro-choice stance.
One of the most tired religion angles can be found in stories with the following formula: Lots of people are [doing x], Christians put their own spin by [creating y], and people are responding by [saying z]. We see this with stories like using Twitter in church or a Christian twist on Yoga.
A Missouri-area student is like many others who have tested their school’s limits, only this one offers a religious twist on a t-shirt. Michelle Ramirez, 12, was pulled from class after wearing a shirt with the phrase in all caps, “Jesus, he scares the hell out of you.”
In case you haven’t heard, this year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. The Tennessean has a little quiz to test your biblical knowledge (though it’s not King James-focused per se).
Some seemed genuinely shocked that Brigham Young University would suspend a basketball player for violating its honor code. Even more surprising, perhaps, was Brandon Davies’ appearance on the bench after his suspension.
Journalists often agonize over a lead/lede, looking for something snappy and attention-grabbing to get people into the story. Sometimes, though, bloggers/aggregators get a bit too cute trying to add a little quip to the intro of a story. Take this example from Slatest’s summary of the Dalai Lama’s recent announcement:
Many religion-related stories fall flat because they take “a visit the zoo” approach. Today’s New York Times article on Christians who try the Greek life could fall under the zoo category. The shocker? Evangelicals are joining fraternities and sororities, and they aren’t trashing the hotel where a recent conference was held.
