Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
New York Times religion writer Peter Steinfels devoted his Saturday column to media use of the word “orthodox” as a religious descriptor. The article, titled “The Audacity of Claiming the Last Word on This Word,” is a thoughtful and interesting media critique against the media being the arbiter of what makes an orthodox believer.
I have been reflecting on the Charles Gibson’s performance during his ABCinterview of Gov. Sarah Palin and I actually feel bad for him. Because Palin has not been as available to the press as they would have liked, he had the burden of representing the entire mainstream media establishment. And with the mainstream media admitting they are “angry” and passionate these last few weeks, that put Gibson in a very difficult position. I mean, he has to work with and socialize with these people for the rest of his life. That is an incredible amount of peer pressure and it had to have been an unbelievably difficult situation for him. I don’t think it excuses getting basic facts wrong but it’s just worth considering all the pressures he was under.
Okay, we’re getting quite a bit of reader reaction to Charlie Gibson’s interview of Gov. Sarah Palin airing on ABC. Apparently Gibson messed up big time when he tried to explore Palin’s religious views. Here’s a portion of the transcript:
One of the problems with the mainstream media’s rush to the gutter in the early days following her being named for the VP slot is that their entire reputation has been shot. So many people disliked what they saw and read in the first week that they’ve lost a level of trust with the media. It’s important, though, to understand that the desire for information about Palin is legitimate and good and it’s the point of having a press.
Sen. Joe Biden was on Meet the Press this past Sunday and he had some comments about his religious views.
So earlier today we looked at how the drama of a CNN headline, subhead and “story highlights” about Gov. Sarah Palin’s religious views were not matched by any facts in the subsequent story. But apparently that is not keeping CNN from just plowing on ahead.
So we all know that the mainstream media are gunning hard for salacious stories about Gov. Sarah Palin.
Last week I noted that Beliefnet‘s Steve Waldman listed Sen. Barack Obama’s “pay grade” answer at the Saddleback Forum as one of the reasons he’s struggling with the evangelical vote. He also cited the Obama campaign media buy of a staunch abortion rights ad that didn’t mention anything about abortion reduction. The Politico is running a list of the eight top gaffes from this campaign season. Guess what’s not on it?
Hold on to your hats, folks. We’re in for a wild ride. Or, rather, we’re continuing the wild ride of Gov. Sarah Palin media coverage. And Palin’s religious views are dominating the stories for the weekend. Let’s begin by looking at the New York Times piece on Palin’s religious views.
