Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Truth be told, I had already decided to take a second look at the faith ghosts in the coverage of the death of screen legend Patricia Neal before I read the following from Deacon John M. Bresnahan, a conservative Catholic who is a regular in our comments pages.
Looks like someone lapsed into reporter-crush-mode over a meal with Hollywood’s latest rock star director. Ryan Murphy is kind of a big deal, according to Brooks Barnes, who wrote a glowing profile for The New York Times on Eat Pray Love‘s director.
Readers of The Columbus Dispatch woke up Monday to strippers — above the fold on Page A1, no less. Not to worry, though. The strippers spent Sunday at church, so there was actual news value to the story.
Readers here at GetReligion aren’t surprised to hear about the troubles that some religious groups have when attempting to build new or expanded worship sites. In recent years, we’ve seen stories about attempts to thwart construction or religious practice for Hindus, Orthodox Jews, Pagans, Mormons, Muslims and even charismatic Anglicans.
When news of Christopher Hitchens’ esophageal cancer first hit the news, blogs, Twitter, Facebook news feeds, there was a lot of cause for concern and several requests for prayer. Then a few people paused and said, “Wait, does Christopher Hitchens even want anyone to pray for him?”
One of the things that annoys me about reporting is how we spend so much time looking for and writing about dramatic news hooks that we miss the day-to-day drama of real life. I almost never see my religious life reflected in a given news story. My congregation is not driven by trends. We worship in largely the same way Lutherans have always worshiped. This does not make for exciting news coverage, as you might imagine.
I just returned from a glorious Seattle vacation, stopping in an airport bookstore to see what I missed for a week. Here’s what I gathered from the newsstands: Bristol broke it off, Chelsea tied the knot, California judge reversed Proposition 8, Time published a startling cover on Afghanistan, Shaq will go to Boston, and Brett Favre joked about retiring.
I enjoy reading the Bible on my iPhone. The ancient words seem to jump to life in a hip new technology. Moreover, the online Scriptures are easily accessible in a multitude of translations, from the King James Version to the Message.
