Yesterday, we contemplated how much coverage of Pope Francis' first-ever visit to the U.S. is too much:
Paul Glader is a veteran journalist who spent 10 years with The Wall Street Journal and now teaches writing, journalism and business-related courses at The King's College (not to mention serving as director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute at The King's College in New York City, which now includes GetReligion).
Count Glader among those who believe the coverage has reached the breaking point:
Others, including longtime Oklahoman business reporter (and my good friend) Steve Lackmeyer, say they'd much rather hear about the Pope than the Donald:
But former GetReligionista and current superstar Washington Post religion writer Sarah Pulliam Bailey worries that other breaking news could steal Francis' spotlight:
My friend Sarah now lives inside the Beltway, by the way. Here in the real world of Oklahoma, we had never heard of Boehner. I kid. I kid ...
Even with the Boehner resignation, there's a pope angle:
Meanwhile, Jim Warren, chief media writer for the Poynter Institute, the respected journalism think tank, remains concerned over what he dubs "Fawning Over Francis":
Not sure why Warren thinks media folks are fawning over Francis ...
Anyway, Warren writes today:
Media emotes over Francis
"Dad, why do they keep talking about the Fiat," my 11-year-old asked last evening as cable news was again smitten with that ugly black car amid ongoing popemania. Reporters said they'd never seen such a joyous occasion in New York. "Dare I ruin the mood of our newscast to say this pope is ruling by Fiat?" MSNBC's Chris Matthews, who had just opined smartly with a quickie history of Catholics in American politics, said to just-returned anchor Brian Williams. It was a bad joke that did make a point.
There was chatter about the morning speech to Congress changing U.S. politics. (Poynter) Don't bet on it. As he flew and choppered to Manhattan, the tone for much coverage was in sync with CNN's Don Lemon, who flat-out declared Francis' visit "was a monumental day for Catholics, for lawmakers, for Americans everywhere." For Americans everywhere? That was nearly matched by his asking The New York Times' Frank Bruni, "Do you think he's a leftist?" (Imagine if he wanted to nationalize all media under state control!) Colleague Anderson Cooper noted how the pope passed Tiffany and Gucci on his trek down Fifth Avenue, a passing (and welcome) reference to a modest, if unavoidable irony of the man of austerity driving by bastions of consumer excess. "I haven't seen you this excited in a long time," Wolf Blitzer said to Cooper, meaning Wolf must not have seen Cooper on stage with Madonna last week in Brooklyn. Come to think of it, maybe there was joy welling up inside Madonna, wherever she was. Though raised Catholic but converted to a sect of Judaism called Kabbalah, she is an American.
Speaking of pope overload, The Onion may have produced the week's biggest scoop:
Enjoy.
And by all means, leave a comment below or tweet us at @GetReligion with your serious (or not-so-serious) reflections on the media's level of Popemania.