Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
This weekend, President Obama gave a First Amendment defense of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. The next day he made a point of noting that he wasn’t addressing the “wisdom” of building a mosque at the site. One of those two statements probably angered most people but I appreciate his comments and that distinction — noting that there are two discussions going on right now.
Anyone who is part of the GetReligion community likely has a few pet peeves about media coverage. We joke about the need for a GetScience, GetMath and GetStatistics to complement GetReligion.
American obituary writers have nothing on the Brits, where you may be excused for thinking you’re reading a roast rather than a tribute. I’m glad we have a more respectful tradition, but sometimes the obit can come off a bit dry. But this obituary in the Los Angeles Times was a captivating read. It tells some highlights of the story of Robert Aitken‘s life. One of the first Americans to be “fully sanctioned” as a master of Zen Buddhism, Robert Baker Aitken Roshi died last week at the age of 93. Elaine Woo began with his significance to the community:
GetReligion reader Duane Shank, a Mennonite who grew up in Lancaster County, Pa., passed along a link to a front-page Philadelphia Inquirer story on the Mennonite tradition of service.
It’s always interesting to see what stories reporters jump on and which are ignored. This has actually been a good year for coverage of changes in religious affiliation, thanks to some major studies on the matter. Here’s a CNN piece headlined “Study: Young Americans less religious than their parents,” for instance.
It’s a tough category, to be sure, but Lona O’Connor wins the prize for the worst story I’ve ever seen about female, non-Roman Catholic priests. It ran in the Palm Beach Post and it’s just absolutely embarrassing from top to bottom.
Few would disagree that the debate over same-sex marriage is more charged than usual. Charges of bad faith and bigotry abound. Honest reporting can help cooler heads prevail. Many of the arguments in this debate have been badly mangled, and that’s why I was so pleased to see this Religion News Service piece by Daniel Burke on “Why Prop 8 ruling scares religious conservatives.”
One of the big questions that specialty-beat reporters always have to ask themselves is this: “How much background information can I assume that my readers know about the subject of this complex story?”
Readers of The Columbus Dispatch woke up Monday to strippers — above the fold on Page A1, no less. Not to worry, though. The strippers spent Sunday at church, so there was actual news value to the story.
