Solid Scottish abuse reporting from the Herald

Last updated on: March 19, 2013 at 9:54 pm By geoconger

I have written a number of articles acknowledging and bewailing the manifold sins and wickedness, which the press, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, in their reporting on the Catholic clergy abuse scandals. Bias, selective reporting of facts, hyperbole, one-sided sourcing, lack of context coupled with a mendacious glee in some stories has provoked most justly my wrath and indignation against the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, The Australian, the Associated Press, the... Read more

This wedding cake tastes a bit too sugary

Last updated on: March 19, 2013 at 11:39 am By Bobby Ross Jr.

To promote the institution of marriage, a California megachurch staged a series of mass weddings and vow renewals over the weekend. Sound newsworthy? It does to me, so I was glad to see the Orange County Register cover the story: ANAHEIM – Lisa Slaughter and Wayne Bergman got married Sunday. Just the two of them and 37 people onstage, and about 1,200 more watching in the auditorium inside the huge Eastside Christian Church. To them, it couldn’t have felt cozier.... Read more

Was Pope Francis ‘anointed’ today? (UPDATED)

Last updated on: January 7, 2019 at 4:05 pm By mollie

The New York Times has run, at last count, 10 pieces in the past six days bringing up the allegations that the new Pope assisted the old Argentine junta in the “Dirty War” period. Which is quite a lot for a story based on hearsay and supposition as opposed to evidence, no? You can read George Conger’s post about other media outlets pushing the story. Pope Francis was installed earlier today during a mass that received quite a bit of... Read more

Ssssshhh! Conservative Catholics may exist at Georgetown

Last updated on: March 18, 2013 at 5:37 pm By tmatt

When the news broke about the election of the first Jesuit pope, several on-air commentators offered variations on the following line: “You know, I bet they are popping the corks on champagne bottles right now out at Georgetown University.” The assumption, of course, is that all Jesuits would be equally exhilarated about the election of Pope Francis, a man who at first glance appears to be a quite loyal, traditional Catholic. If he is as doctrinally conservative as it appears... Read more

Telling the ‘truth’ in Hamas-Israeli conflict

Last updated on: March 18, 2013 at 6:05 pm By mollie

Here’s another story that I wanted to cover last week before I got injured and was in too much pain to be of much use to anyone. But the delay gives us more to talk about. Do you remember this riveting photo that ran in various media outlets — on the front page, above the fold, across four columns of the Washington Post, for instance — that showed journalist Jihad Masharawi grieving over his dead son? Those reports claimed that... Read more

Is CNN pushing the “Dirty War” story?

Last updated on: March 26, 2013 at 10:24 pm By geoconger

Suggestions that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was morally complicit in the crimes of the Argentine junta during the 1970s “dirty war” have made the rounds of the press following his election last week as pope. However, the American and French newspapers have diverged in their coverage of the story with the French reporting the accusations but giving them little credence. GetReligion reader Thomas A. Szyszkiewicz argues some American outlets have been pushing the story. CNN decides to keep up the appearance... Read more

Ghosts in Brennan’s Constitution oath?

Last updated on: March 17, 2013 at 9:48 pm By mollie

Various media reported that new CIA chief John O. Brennan swore his oath of office last week on a Constitution that didn’t contain the Bill of Rights. And, given his strenuous support of the U.S. drone program — which has killed thousands of people, including a few Americans — stories focused on the lack of the fifth amendment’s guarantee of due process. But I wonder if there wasn’t a religion angle there. I’m honestly not sure. Here’s how The Guardian... Read more

Pod people: Did you hear? There is a new pope!

Last updated on: March 17, 2013 at 5:48 pm By tmatt

You will be shocked, shocked, need I say SHOCKED to know that this week’s “Crossroads” podcast focuses on mainstream press coverage of the events before and after the election of Pope Francis as the new leader of of the world’s 1.2 billion (depending on how one does the counting) Catholics. So what are you waiting for? Click here to cue that up and listen in. If you followed our many posts on this topic over the past week or so,... Read more

Inside the conclave: Personal news vs. political news

Last updated on: March 16, 2013 at 2:31 pm By tmatt

Let’s flash back, for a moment, to the early stages of the tsunami of papal conclave coverage. Readers will recall that I wondered — in light of existing New York Times guidelines on the use of anonymous sources — why the Gray Lady’s offerings in Rome were built almost entirely on anonymous sources. Of course, I understand that all kinds of people have motives to speak off the record in and around the Vatican. The key was that the members... Read more

WWROD: Is bad religion-news coverage bad for news biz?

Last updated on: March 15, 2013 at 6:15 pm By tmatt

Warning to readers: The following post is blatantly self-serving and includes flattering remarks about the work of your GetReligionistas. More on that in a minute. A long, long time ago, soon after the cooling of the earth’s crust, I did a bunch of pre-World World Wide web research into the forces that shaped a big problem in American newsrooms. The problem I explored in a lengthy 1983 cover story for The Quill was, of course, the failure of many editors... Read more