Here is a case worth following, not only to see the outcome but to see how MSM outlets cover it -- if they do. The back story to this inside-baseball news story is that The Indianapolis Star -- once a very culturally conservative newsroom and, especially, editorial page -- has been pulled into the Gannett world, which is always going to lead to some changes. Now this happens:

Two former editorial writers at The Indianapolis Star have sued the newspaper and its owner, Gannett Co., claiming religious, racial and age discrimination.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, former editorial board members James Patterson and Lisa Coffey said top newsroom managers "consistently and repeatedly demonstrated . . . a negative hostility toward Christianity."

Neither of these people appear to be Religious Right plants in the newsroom. They seem to be, well, fairly normal people in Indiana. Perhaps that is the problem.

Note that, once again, the key word in the script is "proselytizing." But this raises all kinds of questions, based on the few details we have in print at this time.

Does the P-word apply when people write an editorial that encourages citizens to pray for the U.S. troops in Iraq? Is it "proselytizing" to oppose the Gannett chain's stance on gay rights? This latter issue surfaces in the Star's own mini-story on the case. Does the P-word apply if, let's say, the editorial page backs some kind of Democratic Party effort to blend faith and economic justice?

I will try to keep tabs on this. Has anyone else seen coverage of this case on j-blogs?