Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Give credit to Ben Smith and Jeffrey Resner of The Politico. The reporters unearthed a 1990 Harvard Law Review article written by none other than its president, Barack Obama. The story provides an interesting early glimpse into Obama’s thinking about abortion and fetal rights, as the authors explain:
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.
While the religion angle was soft in first-day coverage, expect plenty of references to Sen. Joe Biden and his rosary beads in the days ahead.
If you want to see what American life looks like through the eyes of the Los Angeles Times political specialists, then by all means click here. The headline on the story: “Obama and McCain in a statistical tie — A Times/Bloomberg poll finds that Obama shows few signs of winning new voters. The issue of experience goes McCain’s way.”
The “God gap” has to be one of the biggest religion stories of the year. It seems we can’t go more than a few days without an additional story about Democratic outreach efforts to religious voters.
The Religion News Service offered another story on the Rev. Rick Warren’s Sunday sermon after the Saddleback forum shindig. And, like the Los Angeles Times, the basic facts about the sermon didn’t really make it into the story about the sermon, even in a report from the excellent wire service that focuses on religion.
One of the things that annoys me about journalists’ lack of institutional memory is the way religious activism in politics is constantly being rediscovered. Over and over. Year after year.
In news lingo, there is this thing called a “follow” story and it is something that modern, shrinking, distressed newsrooms rarely have the time or resources to do.
You may have read read that the California State Supreme Court ruled that religious doctors cannot refuse to inseminate lesbian women artificially on religious grounds. The decision came down yesterday and has generated quite a bit of buzz.
