Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
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:
It always amazes me how many religious concepts and themes have become embedded in our nation’s ongoing debates about abortion. Truth is, it’s impossible for the mainstream media to avoid these religious entanglements because they have soaked into the language used in these events, debates, laws and court cases.
It’s really hard to ignore religion when it comes to death. Those questions of what happens to us when we die often become even more heightened during the funeral, reflection and mourning periods.
So, once again there is a major error in a major story out there in the major media and we cannot really discuss its contents because it is behind a pay-for-content firewall. Trust me, I know that the future of journalism depends on journalists getting paid for the product that they produce, yet I also know that the future includes interactivity and blogging. ‘Tis a puzzlement.
It’s always nice to see a writer on some other site cut loose and give the “GetReligion” treatment to media coverage.
Time for a trip into the tmatt folder of guilt about a media-criticism issue that, let’s face it, could be reviewed year after year, world without end. Amen.
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):
In the two weeks leading to the Super Bowl, armies of world-weary journalists pour out oceans of ink in utterly predictable stories about the two teams that are playing in The Big Game.
For more than a week now, the mainstream press has been wrestling with the events in Egypt. It’s safe to say that this is the biggest news story, period, on planet Earth right now. I mean, other than Super Bowl XLV.
