Truth be told, I still think that the question I asked a few weeks ago remains one of the most interesting questions one can ask about that big story that keeps unfolding down in Waco: “So, how did Brittney Griner end up at Baylor?” That’s an interesting question for Griner. That’s an interesting question for Griner’s parents and her wider family. That’s an interesting question in terms of gossip about national-level hoops recruiting. That’s an interesting question in terms of... Read more
In a recent post about an error in a story about a new saint, readers talked about the notable lack of media coverage of another set of new saints — Christians martyred by Islamic invaders. One reader commented: The mainstream media didn’t seem particularly interested in a group of Catholics martyred by Islamic invaders. Every brief account I saw gave only the information that those who did the killing were “Ottomans” or “Turks.” But how many Americans are historically savvy... Read more
On a recent Crossroads podcast, host Todd Wilken remarked with interest on how many of the year’s major news stories have to do with religion. A cursory glance at the headlines proves it, year after year. But even the non-religion news stories frequently have religion angles. And so it is with one of the scandals embroiling the Obama administration right now. IRS officials have admitted (via a cartoonish plot to plant a question in front of reporters) the agency wrongly... Read more
Here at GetReligion, we focus mainly on critiquing the mass media’s coverage of religion news. Occasionally, though, we like to call attention to news related to the Godbeat itself. Alas, at least three well-known individuals in the world of religion news reporting have made or announced major moves in recent weeks. And as we all know, three examples make a trend. So we must report on this growing trend of religion journalists changing jobs. First, there’s Daniel Burke, who has... Read more
So a nun and two peace activists walk into a nuclear facility … It’s not the start of a bad joke, but the start of what could turn out to be a bad dream for a trio of protestors convicted of trespassing and defacing a nuclear weapons site. A few weeks ago tmatt mentioned the activists in his post on the massive 14-part feature entitled “The Prophets of Oak Ridge.” As tmatt noted, the engaging profile was pure hagiography: “That’s... Read more
The first question I faced, in this week’s “Crossroads” interview, sounded relatively simple: Why did journalists struggle to use the word “fetus” accurately when covering the trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell? Like or not, I have had to pay a lot of attention to this issue in recent weeks. For those who have been off the planet during that time, click here for a recent look at The New York Times and its evolution on this topic. But in this... Read more
At first glance, the current mini-wave of news coverage of former underwear model Kylie Bisutti is nothing more than a chance — in this search-engine-driven world in which we live — to slide the mouse-click friendly terms “God” and “Victoria’s Secret” into the same headline. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. On closer inspection (no, honest), this is actually a story that asks journalists the mainstream media to cover three surprisingly serious subjects. First of all, it’s about a... Read more
Let’s begin this post with a quick definition from Burton’s Legal Thesaurus, 4th edition: civil liberties noun First Amendment guarantees, First Amendment Rights, freedom of expression, freedom of press, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, fundamental individual rights, guarantees from the Bill of Rights, human rights, individual rights, right to life, right to peacefully assemble, right to petition government for redress, right to privacy, right to property, right to worship There are better definitions, but you get the... Read more
Absent a priestly predator is paedophilia a religion news story? In comments posted in response to my 24 April 2013 story “Paedophilia and the Radical Left of ’68”, Ira Rifkin questioned whether politics and paedophilia were properly within the ambit of GetReligion. Was I pushing too hard? Confusing the moral and ethical issues in the story I cited in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) — protests over public honors to a prominent politician who 30 years ago as one of the... Read more
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life’s “Religion News on the Web” page is one of the places I go to peruse religion news. A headline from Illinois caught my attention today: AP: Politics and the pulpit: Black churches at heart of gay marriage debate in Illinois That topic interests me, so I clicked on the link. Let’s start at the top of The Associated Press report: SUMMIT, Illinois — When a proposal to legalize gay marriage started gaining momentum... Read more
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