Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
We don’t usually deal with columns here at GetReligion, but every once in a while, one touches at the core of why we exist, the reason why we advocate so much for religion in the daily newspaper.
Sometimes it’s easy to spot those stories where you think, “Wow, you should not try to tackle that subject in 5,000 words.” Or 500 words. Or three minutes.
Court cases often provide story ideas for profiles of individuals and motivations behind church/state battles, but profiling one side can risk making everyone else look like the monster out to get the hero. For instance, it’s hard not to feel bad for Jessica Ahlquist, an outspoken atheist who successfully sued to get a prayer removed from her high school auditorium after reading the New York Times profile. After all, a state representative called her âan evil little thing,â according to the story.
A story from the Northwest today reminded me of the show Mad Men, where you might imagine executives from the show’s advertising agency coming up with the perfect perk for airline passengers in the 1960s. You could almost see Don Draper talking about why offering prayer cards for passengers offers a sense of nostalgia, tapping into a deeper bond with a product.
My father — a newspaper professional adapting to the digital age — considers his kids his personal information technology help desk, so we’re regularly helping him update his iPhone apps or showing him a new trick.
The political cycle has inevitably generated endorsement after endorsement, and trigger-happy reporters appear ready to jump on nearly every backing from anyone who self-identifies as an evangelical. With 60 percent of South Carolina voters describing themselves as evangelicals, reporters are hoping to provide a clue as to how those votes might fall on Saturday.
A story nearly made for a book or a movie made the rounds a few weeks ago, when the Associated Press reported that a black church won a court battle against the owner of a Ku Klux Klan shop.
Did you use Google today? Perhaps you noticed the Doodle in honor of 17th century scientist Nicolas Steno, a pioneer in both anatomy and geology. Google often honors scientists, authors and inventors with its occasional homepage art, but what’s interesting about this one is the religious side to Steno’s life. The Los Angeles Times notes the scientist’s shift to more religious priorities in a rather abrupt way.
Stephen Colbert may not be the most mainstream source for news, but religion news and interviews make a pretty regular appearance on the Colbert Report, more than your average late-night show.
