Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
The best way to put a buzzkill on the typical Christmas War story is to focus on who benefits the most from the battles. If every story on Nativity scenes on public land mentioned the amount of money the lawyers were taking in, people might view the whole debate differently.
When former British Prime Minister Tony Blair formally entered the Roman Catholic Church, reporters told us almost — almost — everything readers would want to know about Blair’s conversion. John F. Burns of The New York Times wrote a particularly insightful story:
The Associated Press sent out a fairly solid story of religious and social significance Thursday, although one would not think so at first glance. A local pastor in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, gave members of his congregation $50 and told them to go see how they could multiple the money for charity. The story has been carried on several newspaper websites, but as best I can tell, the AP is the only news outlet to publish something on this.
It’s no secret that evangelical Protestants who are Republicans, or at least those who plan to attend the Iowa caucus next month, support Mike Huckabee. But why do they back him?
After former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gave his speech on the role of religion in public life, more than a few pundits and columnists criticized it for not including atheists and agnostics in the “symphony of faith.” But while the chattering class chattered, I didn’t see too much in the mainstream media. Truth is that atheists have a much more difficult voting audience than Mormons. Here’s how Jacob Sullum put it in Reason magazine:
Last time I checked, our amazingly calm and constructive thread about that Los Angeles Times feature on basic Mormon doctrines was at 100-plus comments and still growing. Go for it.
