Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Have you read Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy? The book is a favorite of mine. Its greatness lies not only in the story, but also its accumulation of detail. In reading the book I felt as if I knew all about Clyde Griffiths– his shame at his poor Christian parents, his envy of the wealthy guests at the Kansas City hotel where he worked, his cold-blooded plan to murder his working-class pregnant girlfriend.
If you want to see what American life looks like through the eyes of the Los Angeles Times political specialists, then by all means click here. The headline on the story: “Obama and McCain in a statistical tie — A Times/Bloomberg poll finds that Obama shows few signs of winning new voters. The issue of experience goes McCain’s way.”
A story about more than 300 confiscated Bibles by Chinese officials has received little newspaper coverage in the midst of all the buzz about this month’s Olympics (if there has been television news coverage, please let me know). The only major newspaper to cover the seizing was The Los Angeles Times on Monday.
The “God gap” has to be one of the biggest religion stories of the year. It seems we can’t go more than a few days without an additional story about Democratic outreach efforts to religious voters.
The Religion News Service offered another story on the Rev. Rick Warren’s Sunday sermon after the Saddleback forum shindig. And, like the Los Angeles Times, the basic facts about the sermon didn’t really make it into the story about the sermon, even in a report from the excellent wire service that focuses on religion.
One of the things that annoys me about journalists’ lack of institutional memory is the way religious activism in politics is constantly being rediscovered. Over and over. Year after year.
Tucked away in The Washington Post‘s metro section Saturday was a quiet story about a pastor and his mission that “lasted 50 years.” In reading this story, imagine what the article would look like if it were about a successful businessman who grew a local Washington, D.C.-area company from 27 employees “to more than 3,300.” Would key terms go undefined and controversial issues be left unexplored?
Considering its ubiquity, death has to be one of the most under-reported aspects of the religion beat. Dying, death and funerals are major topics in the life of every pastor — but usually they only get covered when they happen to someone famous.
You may have read read that the California State Supreme Court ruled that religious doctors cannot refuse to inseminate lesbian women artificially on religious grounds. The decision came down yesterday and has generated quite a bit of buzz.
