I came across two stories within moments of each other yesterday. Both, ostensibly, deal with the same Barack Obama town hall event in Ohio. And that’s where the similarities end. Here’s the first paragraph (of three paragraphs!) from the Associated Press:
All pope all the time
Last week, Stricherz highlighted a Washington Post story about Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to the states. I’m sure we’ll be highlighting many more stories as the visit approaches, but I wanted to direct readers to a few of the better sites for coverage.
Rediscovering or revising Islam?
The BBC published a story last week that should have gotten a great deal more coverage than it has. According to the report, the Turkish government has commissioned a team of scholars to revise the Hadith — the collection of thousands of sayings reputed to have come from the Prophet Muhammad.
Math is hard
Is Agence France-Presse even trying any more? Someone sent me a story they published yesterday headlined “Major survey challenges Western perceptions of Islam.” Sounds interesting. Let’s check it out.
FYI: I am now a Herald-Tribune reporter
You may have heard of the Herald-Tribune, a New York Times Co. paper in Florida. The Herald-Tribune Media Group includes a daily newspaper with six daily zoned editions for various Florida communities. It also has a 24-hour cable news station, an internet site, three magazines and a direct-mail business.
Let's get ready to rumble!
It was just yesterday that readers were complaining that I was too hard on a New York Times contributor for her piece expressing surprise that Christians can be funny. But usually I think I’m too understanding of the mistakes reporters make.
Did you hear the one about the culturally isolated NYTs?
This week’s New York Times Magazine had an article about a Christian comedienne who’s all the rage on YouTube.
We have a vested interest in facts
Last week I wrote about the noticeable lack of coverage of a recent Presbyterian Church (USA) ruling on issues surrounding homosexuality. The denomination has a few hundred thousand more members than The Episcopal Church but gets far less coverage. I asked why. Readers provided a number of interesting answers.
Presbyterians don't get any respect
Last week the highest court of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ruled on a pretty contentious issue. I thought I’d wait a few days until more coverage of the ruling appeared in the mainstream press. But other than a few reports from veteran local religious reporters, I haven’t seen much of anything. Apparently a church ruling on homosexuality is only interesting to the media when it happens in The Episcopal Church.
