Many GetReligion readers have, I am sure, spent some time today following the urgent news bulletins out of Egypt, where some of the largest protests in the history of the world have been taking place. It’s hard to know, precisely, what is happening — because there are so many different groups involved in the coalition that is revolting against the nation’s first democratically elected leader. As I write, this is the latest from The New York Times: CAIRO — Egypt’s... Read more
Embedded above is a clip from CNN where media critic Howard Kurtz says what is bleedingly obvious to everyone — the media have cheered on Wendy Davis’ and her abortion filibuster in biased fashion. He asks the rhetorical question of how the same media would cover the same filibuster if, instead, it were against abortion. This last week has been pretty bad, as far as journalism coverage of this religion ghost-haunted story goes. It’s almost as if the media, which... Read more
While working on a recording together, Johnny Cash asked Bob Dylan if he knew “Ring of Fire.” Dylan said he did and began to play it on the piano, croaking it out in typical Dylanesque fashion. When he was done he turned to his friend and said, “It goes something like that, right?” “No,” said Cash shaking his head. “It doesn’t go like that at all.” I’m often reminded of that (perhaps apocryphal) story whenever I read mainstream media reports... Read more
L’Italia è fatta. Restano da fare gli italiani. … We have made Italy. Now we must make Italians. Massimo d’Azeglio, Memoirs (1867). When the Kingdom of Savoy created the modern Italian state in 1861, it also began the work of creating an Italian identity. Not since the fall of the Roman Empire had the whole peninsula been ruled as a single state — and its inhabitants saw themselves as Milanese, Neapolitans, Romans, Tuscans and so forth. It took a world war... Read more
Sometimes it seems that the Church of England just can’t catch a break. Now, trust me, I know that some very strange things have gone on in recent decades in the hazy spiritual territory between Anglicanism and hip, alternative forms of spirituality. Trust me on that. However, The Telegraph recently published a story that — if you know any of the basics about the players and the teams inside the modern Church of England — just didn’t make any sense.... Read more
In light of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage, CNN’s “Belief Blog” features an excellent story by Godbeat pro Daniel Burke exploring the issue from the perspective of conservative Christians. The headline: Conservatives brace for ‘marriage revolution’ The story grabs readers’ attention by focusing on a civil rights vs. conscience clash in Washington state: With its ivy-covered entrance and Teddy Bear bouquets, Arlene’s Flowers seems an unlikely spot to trigger a culture-war skirmish. Until recently, the Richland, Washington, shop... Read more
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage, I wrote two relatively quiet pieces that attempted to focus on specific journalistic issues linked to this significant victory for the cultural, moral and religious left. One post asked if the mainstream press would ponder and investigate the degree to which the Defense of Marriage Act decision reflected a split among Catholics inside the court. I referred to the four Supreme Court justices who are known to be... Read more
A few weeks ago a study on news media coverage by the Pew Research Center showed that stories with more statements supporting same-sex marriage outweighed those with more statements opposing it by a margin of roughly 5-to-1. While the findings weren’t a surprise to most people who read news stories I suspect it came as a shock to some of the folks who write them. While almost everyone in the media will admit they are biased, most professional news reporters... Read more
The media gushing over Texas filibusterer Sen. Wendy Davis continues in such a way as to make Chris Farley, above, seem restrained. Davis is the woman who has halted, at least for the time being, a bill that would require Texas abortion clinics to have the same standards other ambulatory surgery centers are required to have. It would also prohibit, with some exceptions, the killing of children who had reached five or more months’ gestation. And the bill would also... Read more
In a rapidly changing media environment, news organizations must learn to do more with less. For example, I can’t imagine Reuters making more of a splash with less actual substance than it does with this story: Republican battles over Medicaid turn to God and morality I love a meaty piece of journalism, and if it involves politics and religion, even better. In this case, the headline grabbed my attention, and the lede whet my appetite for the rest of the... Read more
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