Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
So what’s up with the Associated Press, all of a sudden? It used to be rare to read an AP report that totally needed an “analysis” label, but now it seems that these stories pop up all of the time.
A few years ago, I covered an Atheist de-baptism ceremony where de-converts would blow dry their hair, attempting to reverse whatever they thought baptism meant. It was unclear how many of the few hundred officially renounced a formal membership where they had to do something specific to formally part ways, since it looked more like an excuse for a party.
Over at the Dickinson Press (North Dakota), reporter Amy Dalrymple has been writing a fascinating series titled “Faces of the Boom.” Whereas most of the country (outside of Washington, D.C., at least) is facing economic hardships, prolonged unemployment and housing problems, North Dakota has something of a boom. If you or anyone you know has been out of work in the last couple of years, you’ve probably heard the advice to head there for work.
It was another Roe v. Wade anniversary and, as usual, the protestors on both sides of the debate were out in force on the grounds of the Colorado state Capitol. Both sides, of course, had their designated spokespersons who were available to talk to the press. This happened year after year.
During one of my newspaper internships, I helped compile a list of data from houses of worship around the city for a church directory. You would not believe the number of bizarrely awful websites we came across, from the flashy purple and gold to the blogspot templates people still use.
One of the things that your GetReligionistas keep saying — to the point of aggravating many readers — is that it is often possible for journalists to spot and define a religion ghost quite easily, using relatively few lines of type in this post-USA Today journalistic world in which we live.
Let’s face it. When the principalities and powers of Major League Baseball dreamed up the whole idea of regular interleague play, one of the main products they were trying to sell was the Subway Series in New York City.
One of the first rules journalists learn is that you don’t generally write about yourself. The gist goes something like this: the story is about other people and their story, not the reporter who personally experiences the story. Every once in a while, you’ll see a reporter like Michael Luo pop up and write something drawing from his own experience, but it’s not the usual style for many reporters.
One of my first assignments during a newspaper internship in college was obituaries, fairly tedious writing with no byline for a much desired clip. I will never forget how my editor emphasized how people really do read them and if you get something wrong, family members, already distraught by the loved one’s death, will confront you pretty quickly. Pressure, much?
