Is The New York Times ignorant about religion?

This question arises from time to time, as when an Easter article in 2014 mentioned the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem as the spot where Christians believe Jesus’ body is buried. (I’m not an expert on where Jesus’ molecules are, but most Christians do not believe they are in a Jerusalem tomb.)

And given that the conservative establishment portrays The New York Times as the embodiment of all that’s wrong with elite media culture, critics and watchdog sites regularly blast the NYT for bias and even ignorance.

Is The New York Times really ignorant about matters of faith?

The two conservative op-ed columnists, Ross Douthat and David Brooks, regularly show their awareness of how religion influences the lives of American people and institutions. Another thoughtful conservative, Peter Wehner of the Ethics & Public Policy Center, has been especially good during the 2016 election campaign, chiding Republicans for their acquiescence to Trump-ism.

On the liberal side, the Newspaper of Record’s record is not quite as solid. In my view, the NYT’s progressive columnists are not as attuned to the role of faith in public life. Nick Kristof is an exception, but by now his trope of “Hey liberals, there are some evangelicals doing really great work in the world,” while perhaps still needed, has become a little too rote and predictable. Frank Bruni sharply and rightly criticizes the excesses of the Religious Right, but in my view makes little attempt to understand or engage people of faith who believe that marriage is a man and a woman.

Occasional op-ed contributions from sociologist Tanya Luhrmann and historian Molly Worthen offer more sympathetic, nuanced portrayals of religion in American life.

But when the NYT’s Executive Editor confesses, “We don’t get religion,” as he did last month, it’s worth revisiting the question.

Dean Baquet said on NPR, “I think that the New York-based and Washington-based too probably, media powerhouses don’t quite get religion…We have a fabulous religion writer, but she’s all alone…We don’t get the role of religion in people’s lives.

This was a pretty stunning admission, offered in the context of elite media failing to understand the appeal of Donald Trump.

Dean Baquet may not “get” religion, but he shouldn’t throw his colleagues under the bus.

In fact, a number of national media outlets in New York and Washington have fantastic religion writers: CNN, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and TIME, to name just a few. While it remains true that some new entrants to the business struggle in this regard — and here I’m thinking of BuzzFeed and Vox in particular — many players in our digital media landscape are continually trying to improve their coverage of religion. The Daily Beast has employed very talented religion writers as editors. Last year, Vox advertised that it was seeking a religion reporter, but never hired one. One of its leading film critics, however, is a professor at a conservative evangelical college. This surprised me, given Vox’s occasional cluelessness and editorial hostility around similar issues in the past. BuzzFeed still needs a lot of help in my view, but there’s room for all of us to do better.

The NYT’s Dean Baquet was right to note that the newspaper has a great religion writer — he was referring to Laurie Goodstein — but I would push back at the suggestion that she’s all alone. She may be the only full-time NYT reporter on the “God beat” (flush with Bezos cash, The Washington Post has three), but I find that plenty of other writers at the Old Gray Lady, sometimes including national political reporters, do at least an adequate job of conveying news about religious people and institutions relevant to their stories and beats.

Shortly after Baquet’s interview, The New York Times announced that it was adding a “faith and values correspondent,” a plum post for a talented journalist who, with the resources and support of such a venerable institution, will undoubtedly do outstanding work.

From the job announcement:

We’re seeing a skilled reporter and writer to tap in to the beliefs and moral questions that guide Americans and affects ow they live their lives, whom they vote for, and ow they reflect on the state of the country. You won’t need to be an expert in religious doctrine. The position is based outside of New York, and you will work alongside Laurie Goodstein and a team of other journalists who are digging deep into the nation.

From my little corner of the religion media world, I applaud The New York Times for adding another religion writer. And I’m certainly aware of the ways in which national media outlets often do not cover religion with charity, clarity, nuance, or sometimes even accuracy. But just because the NYT’s Executive Editor says they don’t get religion does not mean the news media is hopeless or clueless in this regard.

If Dean Baquet doesn’t “get religion,” then he may not be the best person to render a judgment about whether The New York Times covers faith matters with balance, accuracy, and insight.

A lot of writers at major metropolitan dailies, religious magazines, and national media outlets are doing outstanding work covering religion every day. I frequently share my colleagues’ work on Twitter, and I invite you to follow me there.

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