Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
It’s been 12 months since the District of Columbia legalized gay marriage, so it’s no surprise that the Washington Post marked the anniversary with some bonus coverage of the issue. When I say “bonus coverage,” I mean that the editors published even more stories on gay rights than normally appear in a daily edition of the newspaper.
One of the GetReligion posts I’ve had in my guilt file for weeks is a look at the ethics of undercover journalism. Following the stings of various Planned Parenthood offices, where undercover journalists exposed employees willing to break rules and laws in order to help an underage sex ring, a lively debate broke out among pro-lifers. Some defended the morality of the undercover journalism while others said that lying can’t be defended, even if it does expose wrongdoing.
Many religion-related stories fall flat because they take “a visit the zoo” approach. Today’s New York Times article on Christians who try the Greek life could fall under the zoo category. The shocker? Evangelicals are joining fraternities and sororities, and they aren’t trashing the hotel where a recent conference was held.
“On the Stump, Gingrich Puts Focus on Faith,” read the headline for this A1 New York Times piece. But a focus on faith was not what the piece delivered.
The first time I ever heard about Jane Russell’s Bible studies was here at GetReligion and I could hardly believe it. I imagined the star of Outlaw and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes pouring out of her blouse rather than poring over Scripture. Russell died on Monday and it was interesting to see how obituary writers handled it.
As I was reading abortion news in Mother Jones and LifeNews.com recently, it occurred to me that most of the news — and I’m not even counting opinion — that I consume regarding sanctity of life issues comes from outside the mainstream media. It’s obviously a bigger problem on the pro-life side of things. I was shocked to learn last week, for instance, that NBC has still not reported on the Planned Parenthood sting videos. The media more or less ignored the amazing updates coming out of the Philadelphia abortion doctor murder case.
That’s my first reaction to a 1,900-word investigative report by The Oklahoman concerning the church attended by two Oklahoma City Council candidates.
For whatever reason, it’s obvious that the story of the faith-based wrestler Joel Northrup has struck some kind of national chord in the hearts and minds of evangelicals, sports fans and sports fans who are evangelicals. Young Joel’s decision to forfeit rather than to engage in combat against a female opponent — Cassy Herkelman — has really ticked of some people.
We’ve had quite a few reader submissions of stories covering the murder of four Americans by Somali pirates. The coverage is really all over the map. Much of it is good, some is a bit weak. This New York Times story, for instance, has six reporters but is unable to give anything other than the slightest passing reference to the religion angle. That failure led to confusion as the very first comment to the piece — and many others — asked what in the world they were doing in pirate-infested waters.
