Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
The Templeton Foundation gave its annual million-Euro prize this week, and The Guardian‘s science correspondent Ian Sample focused on the religion and science combo more than anything else, even though its recipient says “I’ve got no religious beliefs at all.”
As I get all curmudgeonly in my old age, one of my pet peeves is the media’s schizophrenic treatment of certain news. The hot story of one day is completely forgotten the next. Or the insane, around-the-clock coverage of Terry Jones’ threat to burn a Koran is dropped for some reason, then briefly re-engaged for a blamefest before getting dropped again. What gets left out is any thorough discussion of the heady mix that led to the murderous rampage in Afghanistan.
When it comes to the day jobs held by your GetReligionistas, Sarah Pulliam Bailey is the team member who is probably in the most interesting, or even delicate, position.
I’m a sucker for stories about the liturgical calendar, so my eyes lit up when I saw the headline for Chris Moody’s piece at The Daily Caller:
Is there anyone in American popular culture who intrigues and frustrates journalists of a certain age — the Baby Boomer elites — than Bob Dylan? The man is a walking history book, when you combine the landmark events in his life with the confusing but gripping map that is his canon of songwriting.
The Christian Post, which bills itself as “the largest Christian newspaper in the world featuring world,” is not known for original reporting. It’s certainly no Christianity Today in terms of journalistic quality. They are largely scrapers, rewriting the news as reported by other media outlets and appropriately given credit. It is, however, a decent clearinghouse for Christian news.
I don’t know what the Roman Catholic Church did to anger Michael O’Malley and the editors of Cleveland’s Plain Dealer but I am curious. The reader who passed the story “Breakaway Catholic flock flourishing in New York” along wrote:
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the professionals who run many crucial mainstream newsrooms seem to be throwing up their hands, editorially speaking, when it comes to accurately describing the cracks and divisions inside the complex world of Islam?
Before I made my recent trip to Israel, as an Act for Israel media fellow, I was excited to learn more about how religion informs politics in the region. Many of my friends and acquaintances cautioned me that religion doesn’t play as big a role as one might think. I now realize that all they meant was that the story is much more complicated than just about religious differences.
