The media relations staff at Focus on the Family may soon have to create a form letter for requesting corrections from Newsweek (which, as tmatt noted earlier this month, published one of the funnier corrections in recent Godbeat history).
Newsweek sure seems to have the correction in a macro somewhere. From the Feb. 20 issue:
In the Feb. 13 article "God's Green Soldiers," we incorrectly identified James Dobson as a reverend. He in fact has a Ph.D. in child psychology and goes by Dr. Dobson. Newsweek regrets the [error].
From the Aug. 8, 2005, issue:
In our Aug. 1 issue, a sidebar on lobbying groups ("A User's Guide to the Groups") incorrect[ly] identifies James Dobson as a reverend. He in fact has a Ph.D. in child psychology and goes by Dr. Dobson. Newsweek regrets the error.
The style guardians at Newsweek might consider adding a stylebook entry for Dobson, James, Ph.D.; urging their reporters to bookmark this page; or posting a copy of this article by their own Howard Fineman at each water fountain in every bureau (all together now: "Unlike evangelical Christian provocateurs such as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, Dobson isn't a minister").
Even if Dobson were ordained, the proper word is pastor, not reverend, as this Wikipedia article explains.
Yes, the doctor wields the Bible like he belongs behind a pulpit, he talks more openly about Jesus than do some ordained ministers, and his father was a Nazarene pastor, but politics plus evangelical faith plus a national profile does not have to add up to the pastorate.