Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Last week, I went to Kiev to speak to a group of Ukrainian journalists — both secular and religious — about the challenges of covering religion news in mainstream press. My chapter in the Oxford Centre book, “Blind Spot: When Journalists Don’t Get Religion,” had been translated into Ukrainian and it was a great chance to get some feedback from scribes in a very different context — a post-Soviet culture.
One of the best things about making a 9-hour flight on an airliner is that it gives you enough time to read an issue of Atlantic Monthly. Thus, on the way to Kiev, I finally got to read the stunning “What Makes Us Happy?” cover story by Joshua Wolf Shenk.
Following on Doug’s questions about differences in media coverage of the murders of Dr. George Tiller and Army recruiter Pvt. William Long, it’s been interesting to see how different political groups are talking about the two murders.
I confess that I really, really think that this Associated Press report needed to be much, much longer.
Over the past week, GetReligion has been pursuing this question: What is the mainstream press saying about where Judge Sonia Sotomayor falls in the spectrum of Catholic life and practice? Well, New York Times reporter Laurie Goodstein has been researching this for all of the curious minds who read that newspaper (not to mention GR readers), and here’s what she has found out:
Yesterday morning at Los Angeles International Airport, Brenda Lee presented herself as a journalist, a Catholic priestess, and a California citizen so concerned about gay marriage that she wanted to give a letter to President Obama. In blurring those identities — in behaving as an activist while standing amid journalists — she managed to get herself hauled away in full-throttle civil disobedience mode.
Obviously, there are converts to the Episcopal Church and then there are CONVERTS to the Episcopal Church.
Let’s face it, this is a spectacular hook for a story that blends sports with spirituality. The headline gives you an idea where the Washington Post team is going: “For Jaeger, the Point Is Love — Tennis Prodigy-Turned-Nun Wishes to Show Compassion She Once Craved.”
