There is much to applaud in today’s Washington Post story that ran under the headline, “Maryland’s leftward swing.” If I could listen in on the inner thoughts of the newspaper’s editors, I would imagine that one element in this story that they considered a bit edgy, in terms of journalistic norms, as its open use of the word “liberal” to describe the victories of liberal politicians in the state of Maryland. Yes, the increasingly popular word “progressive” — the preferred... Read more
Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. Did you catch any of the stories about the recent discovery of the ancient “Gate of Hell”? The gate was believed to be the portal to the underworld and was known for its lethal properties. Finally located by a team led by Francesco D’Andria, professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento, Biblical Archaeology explains: “We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring. Indeed, Pamukkale’ springs, which produce... Read more
As most of you know, Sunday was an important religious holiday. In my “All hope is not lost” post, I already highlighted eight compelling enterprise stories that graced the nation’s Easter front pages. But I’m not talking about that religious holiday. I’m referring, of course, to Opening Night and the beginning of a new Major League Baseball season. (Even though my beloved Texas Rangers lost that first game, they came back and won the next two against the lowly Houston Astros,... Read more
In a way, the existence of the short New York Times story that ran with this headline, “Dolan Says the Catholic Church Should Be More Welcoming to Gay People,” is simply a matter of journalistic math. Fact 1: Cardinal Timothy Dolan is the Catholic shepherd of New York and the president of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Fact 2: Dolan is articulate and, at times, even witty. He keeps showing up on television and in highly public places. He is hard... Read more
In our discussions on the New York Times‘ whopper of an error (and weird correction), some readers pointed out that the media outlet was not alone in making a major mistake that day: CBS, clearly embarrassed to be No. 2 in Christian faith ignorance, ran a segment on CBS Sunday Morning in which Martha Teichner stated confidently that John THE BAPTIST stood at the foot of the cross with Mary. That should get some kind of honorable mention here. Over... Read more
The New York Times has been taking quite a bit of heat for its shockingly erroneous understanding of Christianity. Earlier this week, it published a brief story about Pope Francis’ Easter message and went on to say that “Easter is the celebration of the resurrection into heaven of Jesus, three days after he was crucified, the premise for the Christian belief in an everlasting life.” Now, there are many things wrong with that line, as my kindergartner could tell you.... Read more
An Australian bishop’s veto of a gaming industry proposal to donate funds to a church social service agency to hire additional gambling addiction counselors has been met with incredulity by the Sunday Telegraph. In a story entitled “Unholy fight over gaming as Bishop refuses money from clubs” the Sydney-based newspaper’s editorial voice spoils an otherwise interesting story. It does not appear to comprehend that the Anglican Bishop of Armidale Rick Lewers is taking a moral stand that the gaming industry... Read more
It’s time for another GetReligion visit to the online domain of the Ridgewood Religion Guy, as in the weblog of former Time and Associated Press religion-beat maestro Richard Ostling. This time around, he’s digging into a classic question from the church-state wars of the past few decades, care of a reader named Tyler: Should atheism be viewed as a religion? Do atheists view themselves as being part of a religious group? The minute I read that question I thought of... Read more
That New York Times doozie-of-a-correction notwithstanding, many American journalists understand exactly what Easter means for Christians. That fact was evident in some of the exceptional enterprise stories that graced leading front pages on Sunday. Eight of my favorites (in random order): 1. Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote about a parish’s ministry to the poor resonating on Easter: Easter is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. It marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day... Read more
Your GetReligionistas don’t spend much time digging around in the growing world of first-person, advocacy journalism. We realize that opinion is cheap and reporting new information is expensive and that managers of many websites are going to do what they are going to do, which is print more and more opinion pieces about big news events. This is the new reality, but that doesn’t mean we have to like it. However, Salon.com recently ran a first-person essay about that sensational... Read more
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