Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
As far as I know, veteran Godbeat and popular culture scribe Mark Pinsky isn’t dead (although I haven’t heard from him in a week or two, so I will check). His website is nice and up-to-date looking.
Please trust me that the journalists here at GetReligion understand that newspaper and wire service reporters in this day and age are dealing with new challenges.
Before the Olympics wrap up, we must highlight a story that has been covered primarily by newspaper columnists. Becky Hammon, a WNBA player for the San Antonio Silver Stars from South Dakota, signed up to play with the Russian Olympic basketball team after she received a four-year contract worth $2 million to play with one of the country’s professional teams. This meant accepting Russian citizenship, marching into the Olympic Stadium under the Russian flag and wearing the Russian uniform.
Tucked away in The Washington Post‘s metro section Saturday was a quiet story about a pastor and his mission that “lasted 50 years.” In reading this story, imagine what the article would look like if it were about a successful businessman who grew a local Washington, D.C.-area company from 27 employees “to more than 3,300.” Would key terms go undefined and controversial issues be left unexplored?
In her spiritual profile of filmmaker and actor Woody Allen, Newsweek reporter Jennie Yabroff begins her story this way:
With the real estate on airwaves and newsprint getting harder to come by, most religion stories that get published or broadcast deal with politics or major social drama. But some of my favorite stories are the slice-of-life depictions of congregational life. Unlike the impression you may get from the media, it isn’t all about fighting over doctrinal issues . . . there are other fights, too!
As the countdown continues until Saturday’s Saddleback Church “Civil Forum on the Presidency,” journalists continue to probe the ministry of Rick “Purpose Driven Pastor” Warren. To no one’s surprise, the big news kid on the preacher’s block has weighed in on his new, improved, nuanced, broader take on the Gospel.
In the last few weeks, the FBI revealed that they considered government microbiologist Bruce Ivins to be the lone individual responsible for the mailing of weapons-grade anthrax to media and political targets. The allegation left many people scratching their heads. What could possibly be the motive?
For how sex-obsessed our culture is, it’s surprising how little we talk about the spiritual side effects of procreation and contraception. The way we view our bodies and the manner in which we approach sex are some of the most profound theological questions we face in our daily lives, and yet it doesn’t seem to make it into mainstream media much. There are exceptions of course.
