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This is a few days late, but we need to look at that Los Angeles Times “End Times” story. I’m not sure if the problem with the story is that it is disorganized or that the reporter just doesn’t get the topic about which he is writing.
In the end, it was the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that made the biggest news on the front lines of the liturgical culture wars this week. However, it should be noted that the most important action taken by the oldline Presbyterians was to adopt precisely the option that the Episcopalians have been using for quite some time now.
Earlier this year, inspired by a laugh-out-loud correction in Newsweek, I wrote what I hoped was a funny column for Scripps Howard asking why so many newsrooms seem to be a few tacos short of a combination platter when it comes to getting basic religion facts right. Then people started sending me other corrections that were just as funny and that led to a second column — built on the now-infamous “crow’s ear” mistake in the International Herald Tribune coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Compared to the Womb story, this next Presbyterian Assembly story may not seem terribly exciting. But it is spicy in its own way. The Denver Post‘s Eric Gorski is one of my favorite religion reporters. He takes the time to understand and accurately convey the theology of complex stories’ various players. Well, Gorski had a different kind of story worth noting in Wednesday morning’s Post.
It seems that religion columnist Bill Tammeus of the Kansas City Star recently went to a seminar in the Washington, D.C., area that focused on issues in religion news coverage. While he was there he met religion writer Neela Banerjee of The New York Times and, since then, the two of them, and the 30 or so other journalists who attended, have been trading emails about their work.
With all of the excitement surrounding the Episcopal convention, the action at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s 217th General Assembly has been overshadowed. (And the coverage the Presbyterians have received in recent months has not been terribly positive, involving their budget and membership woes.) But Richard Ostling filed a story with the Associated Press that’s pretty juicy:
Like many Americans, I became extremely curious about Islam and its adherents in recent years. I joined a local study group to read the Quran and learn about Islam and have read many books on Islamic teachings. But even though I’m pretty sure I know a bit more than the average American, I’m not sure how much I really understand about this religion.
This ESPN.com piece on Indianapolis Colts football coach Tony Dungy is one of the best examples I’ve ever seen of a writer stepping back from a situation and letting the story’s characters drive the narrative. The article is brutally frank about life, death and the importance of faith in this particular father’s life.
