Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
For a religion reporter editor of a major magazine, Lisa Miller of Newsweek can be woefully undereducated about some religion basics. Such as the Old and New Testaments.
Have you seen those “I’m a Mormon” ads that are, well, everywhere I seem to go on the internet? They’re always the “recommended” YouTube video that pops up when I sign on to show my children pictures of cats or whatever.
So 25,000 words on religion — from The New Yorker–makes me pretty giddy. OK, it’s about Scientology, which continues to keep journalists fascinated for its celebrity draw and secrecy. But hopefully this kind of piece shows how religion can make really compelling journalism. You’ll find a little bit of everything in this piece: celebrities, money, abuse, family, sex, power, etc. Religion often touches all of that and more.
Check out this lede from the Daily Texan story that ran under the headline, “Conservative Christians divorce more, study says.” It’s almost an exact replica of how the mainstream media covered a porn study a few years back. Here’s how this sad example of a divorce story gets started:
Since Mitchell Landsberg assumed religion reporting duties for the Los Angeles Times about a year ago, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has written a lot of stories that have drawn heavy criticism here at GetReligion.
I am a huge fan of Reuters religion coverage. I find their articles frequently informative, detailed, nuanced and covering stories that other outlets miss. I also enjoy their “Faithworld” blog. Last month, the blog highlighted the concern of a reader (and yes, I stole the headline from them):
On Sunday I complained about how all but the rarest coverage of XXXChurch — and there has been a lot of coverage of its National Porn Sunday, from NPR to TMZ — has failed to take Craig Gross’ anti-porn Christian organization as much more than a novelty.
A Tennessee pastor refused to baptize a couple’s baby in church unless they get married. WMC reports.
