Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
In the mythology of journalism, there is this story about a chart that is — or so it is said — hanging on the wall of a generic Associated Press bureau. The chart is supposed to help editors figure out the news value of disasters that take place around the world, when it comes time to decide which stories end up on page one and which ones are buried inside.
There is some seriously conflicting information out there right now concerning Crystal Cathedral founder the Rev. Robert H. Schuller. The Los Angeles Times, which has the more recent story, explains:
What we have here is another one of those branding stories, kind of like the old trend story about Southern Baptist churches taking “Baptist” off their church signs or a certain purple campus in Fort Worth that is trying to focus on a TCU image, as opposed to the old Texas You Know What University thing.
A few weeks ago, there was a bit of a discussion on the internets about whether the mainstream media does a good job of covering honor killings in America. It began with Phyllis Chesler writing:
If you are a fan of professional football — especially if you live in Nashville or Baltimore — the July 4th weekend marked the anniversary of the murder of Steve McNair.
Salt-and-pepper hair. Western-style mustache. Cowboy hat. Thomas Mitchell looks like my kind of editor.
I mean, talk about an evergreen topic on the religion beat. The primary problem with this story from the Detroit Free Press, which tragically got picked up by the United States’ largest newspaper, is that it suffers from dry rot.
Up in Wyoming, Casper Star-Tribune subscribers got their money’s worth — and more — Sunday. Kristy Gray’s remarkable story on a priest’s journey from rock bottom to redemption dominated Page 1. The banner-size headline: “RECONCILED.”
