I have been criticized, sometimes with good cause, for being rather rough on the religion coverage in the Baltimore Sun, the local newspaper that lands in my front yard.
When will Romney tell us what he believes?
John Dickerson of Slate has a solid piece that fleshes out Mitt Romney’s Mormon issue and provides us with some interesting news tidbits. Dickerson calls on Romney to explain his beliefs in a clear, concise way that gives voters an idea of how his faith will affect his life. According to Dickerson, Romney’s people say he will address such questions once he officially announces his candidacy sometime early next year.
Yes, MZ has a good reason for silence
Who are Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal?
During this busy week, I have been watching to see if two men’s names showed up, at any point, in Google News.
On breaking up
There’s turmoil over at the Christian Coalition. Florida megachurch pastor Joel Hunter, who supports raising the minimum wage, opposes the death penalty and wants to take on global warming, was scheduled to take over Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition in January. But according to The Washington Post‘s Alan Cooperman, the organization’s chairwoman, Roberta Combs, has decided to rescind that offer.
Covering two stories at the same time
Due to a busy class schedule, I have not had the time to address much of the new coverage of the liturgical meetings between Pope Benedict XVI and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, celebrating the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. I think most of the symbolism and the substance in those meetings will be included in the major stories tomorrow and I should be able to catch up a bit.
War on Christmas? Nein!
I hope I’m not jinxing anything by asking this, but do you think we may be witnessing less “War on Christmas” media hype this year? It seemed the story was escalating annually, but I think we may have a reprieve this year.
Kids today just want to be hip
Shaila Dewann of the New York Times wants every municipal government to know something: get with it or your city will go the way of VHS tapes. While I’m sure Dewann’s article on the competition between cities to attract the young is documenting a response to what could be a very real movement, it fails to challenge any of the stereotypes that are driving what appears to just be trends. The Times can do better.
Blue Republicans singing the blues
Pity “moderate” Republicans. They are having hard times at the moment, as spotlighted in a recent New York Times feature by reporter Pam Belluck. The entire story is a master class in how to use and abuse weighted words such as “centrist” and “moderate,” even though top leaders at the newspaper know — and have said they know — that this is a sore point with readers.
