I make no secret of the fact that I prefer the written word to the spoken word. Sure, I'm a talker. But I'm not a remarkably articulate speaker. The words just never seem to come out as neatly as they do on paper (though just how neatly they come out on paper is up for debate). And there are few things that frighten me, as a reporter, more than radio appearances. I'm always convinced that the interview to follow will be the one that ends my journalism career. Why? Because I need a filter, and real-time lacks the luxury.

(Exhibit A isn't from "Fresh Air" or "Which Way LA?" or some of the Christian radio programs I've been on, but it's the only recorded talk or interview that I think I've put on The God Blog.)

So, naturally, I chose to take my first Crossroads podcast appearance, brought to you by the wonderful folks at GetReligion and Issues, Etc., as an opportunity to talk about the difficulty journalists have writing about anti-Semitism and the wall-to-wall coverage of the Bishop Eddie Long scandal.

On the podcast, Todd Wilken and I take 13 minutes to talk about these two very different topics. Todd's questions were primed by a few recent GetReligion posts, so my responses cover familiar ground. (Maybe even ramble a bit.) I also add to that familiar ground with a little discussion of why Jews has become so prominent in the American news media and the media's ability to distinguish between comments that are anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.

Hint: I think the media does a better job than many member of the public because reporters are more inclined to see the world through a political lens as opposed to a religious or ethnic lens.

It's also worth spending half the time it takes to watch a "Two and a Half Men" episode to give a listen -- if for no other reason than to comment below that though I have a face for radio, I have a voice for print.