Hacker: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Well handled snakes, in the Tennessean
Just war and Obama's kill list
As much as we look at coverage of domestic policies and whether the religion angles in those stories were covered well, we rarely see much coverage that explores religion angles in foreign policy.
Is polygamy-themed vodka offensive to Mormons?
The Associated Press has a story about a regulatory agency in Idaho banning the sale of a particular type of vodka on quasi-religious concerns:
Well handled snakes, in the Washington Post
Although I lived in the mountains of Tennessee for six years, I am not an expert on the small — but well documented — bands of Christians who choose to handle snakes as part of their worship services. Yes, there was this mainstream Greek newspaper that decided that I was an expert on this subject (one of the most bizarre episodes in my career), but that was the kind of mistake that happens when one writes a singe column that somehow shows up high in a Google search.
Pod People: Toward a more consistent scare-quote policy
In this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, host Todd Wilken and I looked over a couple of stories I analyzed this week dealing with religion in the public square.
Got news? The Vatican women's Page
LâOsservatore Romano reports that it has added a women’s page to its Italian-language edition. The four-page insert will be called âWomen, Church, Worldâ and will be written âby and forâ Catholic women, and will appear on the last Thursday of the month, the semi-official Vatican newspaper reports.
How an iconic photo of naked girl made a lasting impact
Prepare to be moved to tears, because we have a lovely story to share. A friend sent me this amazing Associated Press story about a woman coming to terms with a stunning photo from her childhood. I would post the photo here, but AP owns the photo so you can find it here.
Ghosts in the "Polish death camps" fracas
The former newspaper copy editor in me has been watching the development of the whole “Polish death camp” debate this week, which led, of course, to a political resolution of this rather small-scale media storm.
