It’s no secret that times are tough for journalism. We keep seeing newspapers laying off reporters, combining beats and generally making work harder for the limited number of employees who remain. The Godbeat in particular has had a rough go of things, with the loss of some of its very best professionals. So I’m pretty open to innovative methods of keeping the beat going. And that includes taking grants from foundations who push a particular agenda. When I first heard... Read more
Whenever you read one of those reflective essays on how The New York Times serves as a cheerleader for progressive causes — thank you, M.Z. — what you really need next is a kind of chaser to clear the journalistic palette. I cannot provide that, at the moment. Instead, let’s jump right back into the same subject — only this time through a new-old Times report about political — dang it, we’re talking about POLITICS, people — events unfolding in... Read more
The New York Times‘ outgoing public editor — Arthur S. Brisbane — wrote his final column this weekend. Most of it is outside the purview of this blog, which is discussion of media coverage of religion news. He talks a lot about how the Times has streamlined and responded to social media. But part of it was interesting enough to some readers to send it in for discussion. Here it is: I also noted two years ago that I had... Read more
Stop whatever you are doing. If you read one story this week, make it this one from Grantland. But brace yourself. The piece is more than 7,000 words. Add it to Instapaper, Pocket, bookmark or whatever you use to read stories later, because you’ll be in it for the long haul, at least in Internet time. Why do I like this somewhat random story so much? I’m not even drawn to reading many sports stories because I assume my sports... Read more
Here we go again. It’s almost time for the annual God-and-gridiron tsunami. Athletes and coaches do like to speak their minds on religious matters, from time to time. There will be coverage worthy of praise. However, the months ahead are also sure to include sports stories in which scribes add one or two flashes of vague religious content — usually in the form of mushy labels or unexplained direct quotations — and then turn around and fumble the ball when... Read more
On the latest Issues, Etc. podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discuss my recent post on media coverage of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney going to church. In the comments section of that post, Mark Hemingway, GetReligion’s resident expert on Mormonism, raised an interesting question: There’s one interesting detail I would like to know, though I don’t know whether it’s here nor there in relation to what Bobby wrote. Did the Romney campaign allow multiple reporters to attend services — or... Read more
If anyone is interested, here is an short update on GetReligion’s recent move to Patheos. The RSS feeds seem to be working for the vast majority of users. We are still trying to get some art issues — past and present — worked out. A few tweaks continue, thanks to the patient Patheos staff. Some people think we have moved to a liberal site. Some people think we have moved to a conservative site. Par for the course. Now that... Read more
The most important story this week — do the math — has been the reaction to Rep. Todd Akin’s comments to an interviewer about what he called “legitimate rape.” While people have focused on Akin, it might be worth taking a closer look at the reporter who asked Akin the question about abortion and rape. It came during an appearance on The Jaco Report, hosted by veteran journalist Charles Jaco. Yesterday I asked why reporters always ask consistent pro-life politicians... Read more
Above all – Allah is our goal… The shari’a, then the shari’a, and finally, the shari’a. This nation will enjoy blessing and revival only through the Islamic shari’a. I take an oath before Allah and before you all that regardless of the actual text [of the constitution]… Allah willing, the text will truly reflect [the shari’a], as will be agreed upon by the Egyptian people, by the Islamic scholars, and by legal and constitutional experts… -Mohammed Mursi: Jihad Is Our... Read more
Earlier today, I highlighted a couple of examples of how the media suffer from some serious blind spots when it comes to coverage of the hot-button topic of abortion. I noted that the struggles of pro-life Democrats to have their existence simply acknowledged by their party receive very little, if any, mainstream media coverage. Conversely, the pro-life platform of the Republican Party is big media story. I also pointed out how reporters love to ask consistent pro-life politicians about rape... Read more
GetReligion
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In