{"id":106265,"date":"2013-06-05T11:14:42","date_gmt":"2013-06-05T15:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/?p=106265"},"modified":"2013-06-05T11:14:42","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T15:14:42","slug":"dueling-christian-coverage-or-ira-glass-vs-national-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/getreligion\/2013\/06\/dueling-christian-coverage-or-ira-glass-vs-national-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Dueling Christian coverage, or Ira Glass vs. National Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe> \nAbove is a nice little snippet of an Ira Glass interview. Interview of<\/em> Ira Glass, I should say. The popular host of public radio\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thisamericanlife.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">This American Life<\/a><\/em> reflects on why the show does so much good coverage of Christians. It\u2019s because the media do such a bad job of covering them otherwise, he says. He says the Christians he knows and works with \u2014 including the \u201cfundamentalists\u201d \u2014 are nothing like how Christians are portrayed in the media.<\/p>\nI knew GetReligion readers would want to see the interview.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s also a great introduction to a piece that ran on National Journal<\/em>, yesterday. Many reporters passed it along to us, including one who added the note:<\/p>\n<blockquote>Those crazy Christians are at it again!<\/p>\nPraying!<\/p>\nAbout major decisions! <\/p><\/blockquote>\nYou get a feeling for the reportorial prowess on display, the nuance, the journalistic integrity, with the headline alone:<\/p>\n<blockquote>The Things That God Tells Politicians<\/strong> \nMostly, it\u2019s to run for president. But every now and then, the almighty may intervene in a leadership coup.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nDo you want to read on? Neither do I! But, this being part of the job and all, I guess we will. Here\u2019s the top of the piece:<\/p>\n<blockquote>In early January, House Speaker John Boehner was in crisis. After a brutal fiscal-cliff slog, Boehner\u2019s speakership was in serious doubt, and a group of conservative House Republicans were preparing to drive in the knife. But that\u2019s when, according to a new Washington Post<\/em> story, God intervened.<\/p>\nBarely 36 hours after the caustic [fiscal cliff] New Year\u2019s Day vote, Boehner faced a coup attempt from a clutch of renegade conservatives. The cabal quickly fell apart when several Republicans, after a night of prayer, said God told them to spare the speaker.<\/em><\/p>\nThis, of course, is not the first time that God has been said to have stepped into U.S. politics. Here\u2019s a brief look at some of the almighty\u2019s supposed prior forays.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nI\u2019ll spare you the rest, on account of it being too early for this much juvenile snark, but it goes on to make fun of other Republicans praying.<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s your favorite part of this story? Is it how it perpetuates the stereotype that Democrats are all godless and Republicans are all fundamentalists? Is it the drive-by, Buzzfeed-worthy substance of the post? Is it the complete missed opportunity?<\/p>\nSee, I\u2019d love nothing more than a critical and thoughtful look at how politicians use religion \u2014 a story that broached whether they use religion to manipulate or advance objectives. I\u2019d love to see one that didn\u2019t assume prayer was just a ploy. I\u2019d love one that didn\u2019t sound like it was written by a former Talking Points Memo<\/em> staffer (which, in this case, would be difficult since National Journal apparently hired this reporter after stints at \u2026 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationaljournal.com\/reporters\/bio\/166\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Talking Points Memo<\/a><\/em>, Salon<\/em>, etc.). Just about anything would have been better than this drivel.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nThere are good stories to be written about politicians and prayer \u2014 with good, bad and ugly anecdotes. Stories that traffic in bigotry to mock politicians for seeking to do God\u2019s will are not those stories.<\/p>\nBetter luck next time, National Journal<\/em>!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Above is a nice little snippet of an Ira Glass interview. Interview of Ira Glass, I should say. The popular host of public radio\u2019s This American Life reflects on why the show does so much good coverage of Christians. It\u2019s because the media do such a bad job of covering them otherwise, he says. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":605,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,25,27,7,3],"tags":[306,1740,1739,1414,336,510,1741],"class_list":["post-106265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baptists","category-catholicism","category-evangelicals","category-journalism","category-politics","tag-buzzfeed","tag-ira-glass","tag-john-boehner","tag-national-journal","tag-prayer","tag-rick-santorum","tag-this-american-life"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Dueling Christian coverage, or Ira Glass vs. National Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Above is a nice little snippet of an Ira Glass interview. Interview of Ira Glass, I should say. 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