WWW-Tech

, , , , , , , , , ,

Farewell, after 20 years: Why we did what we did

, , , , , , , , , ,
Farewell, after 20 years: Why we did what we did

If you know anything about world religions, then you know that Easter is a big deal in Christianity.

In Eastern Orthodox churches, the Big Idea is stated this way, over and over, in rites for Pascha (Easter): “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life” (see this flash mob celebration in Lebanon).

I don’t bring this up as a matter of evangelism or some other #triggerwarning behavior. I am noting that this is an essential fact about Christianity, the world’s largest religious faith. Easter isn’t a “bunny” thing.

This brings us to one of the more unusual “religion ghosts” we spotted several times during the 20-year history of GetReligion. Here’s a case study at Newsweek and another at Facebook news. However, the classic version of this ghost appeared in the holy (in journalism terms) pages of The New York Times in this 2014 feature: “Hoping War-Weary Tourists Will Return to Israel.” Here is the key passage:

On a recent afternoon in the Old City of Jerusalem, while fighting raged in Gaza, Bilal Abu Khalaf hosted a group of Israeli tourists at his textile store in the Christian Quarter — one of Jerusalem’s tourist gems. …

“That’s the first group I’ve had here in more than a month,” Mr. Abu Khalaf said. “There have been whole weeks when no one has been inside the shop. I’ve sold almost nothing the entire summer. Business hasn’t been this bad since the first intifada in 1989, when the Palestinian groups ordered us to shutter our stores.”

Nearby, the vast Church of the Holy Sepulcher marking the site where many Christians believe that Jesus was buried, usually packed with pilgrims, was echoing and empty.

Now, what’s unusual about that? Well, it helps to know that the printed version said:

Nearby, the vast Church of the Holy Sepulcher marking the site where many Christians believe that Jesus is buried, usually packed with pilgrims, was echoing and empty.

It’s all about the word “is,” isn’t it?

Inquiring minds wanted to know: Was there anyone in the editorial chain at the world’s newspaper of record who knew the essential fact that traditional Christians don’t believe Jesus is buried anywhere? It’s that whole “Easter” thing.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , ,

A salute from north of the border, care of CBC Radio veteran Anna-Liza Kozma

, , , , , , ,
A salute from north of the border, care of CBC Radio veteran Anna-Liza Kozma

“What do you mean by blog?” I asked my friend Terry Mattingly nearly a quarter of a century ago in Jerusalem as we attended a conference on religion in the news, which took place just before Pope John Paul II's millennial visit.

“The style is informal and conversational,” tmatt explained. “And,” he promised, “It won't take you as long to write a blog post as it does a news story or a column.”

Terry's vision was to create an online place — we didn't use the word platform then — for journalists to write what he called orphaned religion stories. You know, religion ghost stories, stories with missing in action religion hooks, buried in plain sight.

I was fascinated and sceptical.

I was fascinated because I was writing and producing CBC radio's “spirituality” show and steering it towards the kind of unembarrassed religion coverage I'd grown up with on the BBC. As a career-long public broadcasting staffer who assuaged my writing itch by freelancing, I loved talking to unusual,thoughtful people. As a baptised Catholic turned Anglican via British Evangelicalism, I knew the religion beat was full of unheard voices. L'Abri and Os Guinness had taught me that journalism was as worthwhile a vocation as being a vicar or an academic or a mother. You could even combine them!

How I longed to be part of Terry's vision. But I was sceptical because as a full-time staffer at Canadian Broadcasting, I couldn't take on a regular commitment outside the Mothership. Worse still would be management perceiving my association with — God-Buddha-Allah forbid — a “religious” outfit of some kind making judgments about journalism.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , ,

Farewell from Moscow: This American ran into GetReligion online and never stopped reading

, , , , , ,
Farewell from Moscow: This American ran into GetReligion online and never stopped reading

To be honest, I still can’t remember how I found GetReligion.

Thanks to Google, I was able to find what I’m guessing what my first GetReligion shout-out — it was a post by Julia Duin some seven years ago about the Southern Baptist megachurch leader Robert Jeffress claiming that God had given the once and potentially future President Donald Trump the authority to kill North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un.

To be honest, Jeffress’ comments were made in 2017, which was an era whose troubles I now view with a kind of nostalgia. Sigh, I used to worry about COVID-19.

The tip I’d submitted to this weblog about that story reveals that I had only begun learning to critically view the media and the world in the way GetReligion taught to me and many other readers and listeners. Back then, I thought it was funny to point out the New York Daily News’ editorial incompetence for having published the sentence “though shalt not kill.” You know, as opposed to “thou shalt not kill.” It’s part of that whole Ten Commandments thing.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , ,

Doug LeBlanc bids farewell: I enjoyed my time in a journalism niche within a niche within a niche

, , , , ,
Doug LeBlanc bids farewell: I enjoyed my time in a journalism niche within a niche within a niche

Terry Mattingly had been my faithful friend of about a decade when he invited me to help him launch GetReligion.org at the start of February, 2004.

The timing was right. I had reached a point of uncertainty about what new direction my journalism career would take.

GetReligion became a rewarding place to continue writing and learning basic skills in working with World Wide Web platforms. For any platform nerds who are keeping score, my favorite software remains WordPress.

I was never quite at ease as a religion-beat critic, but I found a niche of critiquing heavily flawed material and praising articles that reflected an understanding of religion’s importance in journalism.

Looking back, I think these posts best represent moments of enjoying my work with GetReligion.

* Johnny Cash’s table fellowship (Sept. 22, 2004)

* Jimmy Swaggart and the hairy swamp monkey (Sept. 23, 2004)

* NASCAR, Cabela’s — and Catholicism? (Feb. 18, 2005)

* Rick Warren’s tipping point (Sept. 10, 2005)

* Esquire explains it all for you (Nov. 6, 2005)

* Gangster of love (Nov. 13, 2008)

* Covering Rep. Gabbard’s American path to Hinduism, including some complex, tricky details (June 18, 2019)


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , ,

Concerning Bob Smietana's kind RNS look at GetReligion (with a few friendly quibbles)

, , , , , ,
Concerning Bob Smietana's kind RNS look at GetReligion (with a few friendly quibbles)

May I have a brief moment, please, to ask a question to my fellow religion-beat reporters?

I have a style question for you folks. Has the ever-evolving Associated Press stylebook addressed the issue of whether the news beat on which we work is also called the “God beat,” the “Godbeat,” the “godbeat” or maybe the “gods beat”?

Just asking. I asking that question because many GetReligion readers may have seen the Religion News Service piece by Bob Smietana that ran with this double-decker headline:

After 20 years, Terry Mattingly bids farewell to GetReligion

Religion reporting still matters, Mattingly says, but the internet’s ‘preaching to the choir’ algorithms have won out

In that news piece for mainstream newspapers, Smietana went with “ ‘God beat’ specialists” when describing religion-beat professionals. That’s interesting, since I have always seen “Godbeat” as the official nickname (at least for old-timers like me).

I should stress that Smietana and I talked for 90 minutes for this piece, after quite a few long conversations over the years. It’s a remarkably kind piece, although I really wished some other GetReligionistas had been quoted.

I was glad that Smietana did this story. Last year, the media-ethics pro Aly Colon of Washington and Lee University asked me to nominate some speakers for a pair of Poynter seminars to help journalists who, while they don’t work on the religion beat, their work frequently veers into religion territory. Smietana was one of the first reporters I mentioned, stressing that “while Bob and I have argued about lots of things for many years” he is a “pro’s pro on the beat who knows his stuff and he needs to be there.”

In this RNS feature, Smietana wrote:

A proud curmudgeon, Mattingly is known for his outspoken opinions and blunt criticism, as well as his loyalty and willingness to make friends with people he disagrees with.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , ,

Building the GetReligion archives: Flashback to journalists avoiding Gosnell trial horrors

, , , , , , , , ,
Building the GetReligion archives: Flashback to journalists avoiding Gosnell trial horrors

If you pay close attention to the details, it’s clear that your GetReligionistas are already preparing to close our doors on Feb. 2.

Look at the masthead, for example. We have inserted “2004-2024” under the name and the original first post — “What we do, why we do it” has turned into a “History” link. I’m already working on the “Why we did what we did” final piece.

Like I said the other day, we are closing — but some GetReligion features will continue in other places.

The religion-beat patriarch Richard Ostling will keep writing some form of news “Memo” for Religion Unplugged, where his editor will be our own Clemente Lisi. I will continue the “Crossroads” podcast with our partners at Lutheran Public Radio and they will be available here at the GetReligion archive (see the new logo on the right sidebar), Tmatt.net and the podcast pages at Apple. We’re talking about some form of Q&A podcast or video. The GetReligion feed on X will remain open. I’m pondering a Substack newsletter — “Rational Sheep” — on religious faith and mass culture.

But the main thing that is going on is that we are working to turn this massive website into a searchable archive for people — journalists, book writers, etc. — who want tons of information, URLs and commentary about the past two decades of religion-beat news (with a heavy emphasis on First Amendment issues). It helps to remember that I am married to a reference librarian who started working on computer networks when she was a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduate student in the late 1970s.

One of the things we will do, on the “Search” page, is offer some suggestions for search terms to find some classic GetReligion work. I have, for technical and legal reasons, been reading my way back through the history of of this blog and, the other day, I hit 2013.

Let’s just say that i urge readers to do a search for these terms — “Hemingway,” “Gosnell,” “trial,” 2013 — and dig into what they hit.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Reporters! Seek a variety of 'Internet' priests when covering hot-button Catholic issues

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Reporters! Seek a variety of 'Internet' priests when covering hot-button Catholic issues

The Vatican’s decision to allow priests to bless couples in what they called “irregular relationships” continues to get lots of media attention.

The language in this confusing decree, issued last month, included individuals in same-sex relationships, which unleashed a flurry of news coverage. The issue was kept alive in the news after bishops — primarily from Africa — pushed back. That forced the Vatican to issue a clarification last week aimed at quelling dissent.

Journalists working on this story have largely done a poor job in quoting diverse views about this topic from the very men who are supposed to bestow such blessings — priests. I did that very thing on Jan. 4 at Religion Unplugged, where I serve as executive editor, when the Vatican issued a news release to clarify their original declaration. Here’s what I wrote for those of you who need a refresher:

Three weeks after announcing that Catholic priests could bless individuals in same-sex relationships, the Vatican published a clarification … following backlash — and even widespread confusion in many cases — from prelates across the world.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a news release that it wanted to “help clarify” the many reactions to Fiducia Supplicans, a decree issued on Dec. 18. In it, the Vatican urged a “full and calm reading” of the entire document to better understand “its meaning and purpose.”

The original decree had been signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernandez, who serves as the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Dec. 18 document, the Vatican said, was “clear and definitive” in regards to Catholic doctrine regarding church teaching on marriage and sexuality. Again, the Vatican said any blessings are for individuals — not the union — and must not be “liturgical or ritualized.”

“Evidently, there is no room to distance ourselves doctrinally from this declaration or to consider it heretical, contrary to the tradition of the church or blasphemous,” the latest statement added.

Quite of few bishops, especially in Africa, were doing quite a bit of explicit doctrinal distancing, if not outright slamming. That’s a newsworthy development, for sure.


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , , , ,

'Naughty' list mass media: Should religious leaders help parents fight screen culture?

, , , , , , , , , ,
'Naughty' list mass media: Should religious leaders help parents fight screen culture?

Parents in pews rarely turn to Rolling Stone for advice about pop-culture morality.

But the magazine's expose about "The Idol," a summer HBO series about a romance between a pop starlet and an edgy cult leader, produced waves of viral quotes. Production staffers called it a "rape fantasy" that verged on "sexual torture porn." One said the series about a young woman "finding herself sexually" evolved into "a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman, and she loves it."

The network cancelled "The Idol," even though a public-relations statement cited "strong audience response" to "one of HBO's most provocative" dramas.

Thus, HBO landed on the Parents Television and Media Council "naughty list" for 2023. The citation noted: "HBO has led the charge towards marketing explicit, adult content to children and teens, introducing the sexually explicit The Idol to viewers this past summer, quietly adding Naked Attraction featuring uncensored fully naked contestants, and extending teen-targeted Euphoria for another season of drugs and depravity."

National Public Radio hailed "Euphoria" as "thrilling, daring, disquieting and compelling," as well as "a parent's worst nightmare" with its focus on high-school students who have "problems handling an excess of drugs, drink and sex" and "always seem to make the worst choices."

While stressing that PTMC is secular, it's obvious that today's digital screen culture -- delivered through smartphones, tablets, laptops and, every now and then, televisions -- is raising issues that religious leaders cannot ignore, said Melissa Henson, the organization's programming director.

"Unquestionably, COVID accelerated a shift in media consumption patterns. … We're not talking about the end of traditional television, but there is no question that the audience is becoming more and more fragmented," said Henson, in a telephone interview.

"This is making it harder for parents to be aware of what their children are watching, of course. Also, the online world isn't controlled by the kinds of forces that affected TV or even cable TV, such as the desires of advertisers."


Please respect our Commenting Policy
, , , , , , , ,

GetReligion will close on February 2, the 20th anniversary of this blog's birth

, , , , , , , ,
GetReligion will close on February 2, the 20th anniversary of this blog's birth

Doug LeBlanc clicked “publish” on the original GetReligion website on February 2, 2004, and the GetReligion team has published at least one piece of new content every day ever since.

That streak will end in just over a month, on our 20th anniversary. The website will close, although some of our features will live on — to one degree or another — on other websites. We will share more details before we close, so hold that thought.

The plan is to keep GetReligion.org online as a massive archive of Godbeat life over a stunningly complex 20 years in the news business, as the realities of the digital age have rocked the landscape of hard-news journalism. The goal is to find a reference-materials home with an academic institution that values the study of religion, mass culture and the First Amendment.

We want to keep this archive online as a way of stressing the three goals that led to the creation of GetReligion.org in the first place. We have tried to:

(1) Promote religion-news reporting in the mainstream press, arguing that journalists on this beat deserve the respect given to those covering other complex topics in the public square. If newsroom managers want to improve religion-beat coverage, they can use ordinary journalism logic — hiring experienced (maybe even award-winning) religion-beat reporters and then letting them do their work.

(2) Note that far too many journalists (especially those at political desks) tend to miss obvious religion angles in important stories, often mangling basic facts and history in the process. The result is news coverage “haunted” by what we call “religion ghosts.” Why does this happen? As the liberal journalism icon Bill Moyers once told me, many journalists are "tone deaf" to the music of faith in public life.

(3) Defend the traditional “American Model of the Press,” with its emphasis on professional standards that stress accuracy, fairness and even balance. Many journalists seem to believe that these old-school standards do not apply to coverage of hot-button subjects linked to religion, morality and culture. After all, politics is real. Religion? Not so much.

Why close GetReligion now? I will admit that I have, in recent years, struggling to accept the many ways in which the digital age has changed the business model for the mainstream press. What we have here is a classic example of the mass-media doctrine that “technology shapes content.”


Please respect our Commenting Policy