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It seems like over the last 10 years or so, I’ve read roughly eleventy-bajillion trend pieces about the confluence of environmentalism and religion. Most of these pieces have been fairly uncritical about or even cheerleading this commingling. So I wasn’t terribly enthused to see this New York Times story, “Pastors in Northwest Find Focus in ‘Green.’”
Whenever Pope Benedict XVI gives a homily or addresses a crowd, it’s always fascinating to see how the media write it up. This week, Benedict addressed the Vatican’s diplomatic corps that, by its nature, dealt a bit with broader political themes. How does a reporter sum up a 3,000-word address or figure out what aspect to focus on? To be sure, it’s a difficult task. The Boston Herald headlined its Associated Press story:
Of the many heavy-handed copy editing ticks employed over the years at the Washington Times, one of the most contentious was the use of scare quotes around the term “gay marriage.” Actually, I think they used the term “homosexual marriage.” One of the first acts former editor John Solomon performed when he took over two years ago was to tell the copy desk to knock off the quotation marks.
This is the voice of the father of Jordanian suicide bomber Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, who blew up himself and seven Central Intelligence Agency workers in Afghanistan in December.
We’ve had more than a few readers point out this article in the Washington Post about a changing of the guard at Emily’s List. And that’s because it reads like a press release from the organization.
I suppose all good things must come to an end eventually but, after 20 years, the final New York Times‘ Beliefs column was printed on New Year’s Day. Terry, as usual, had some vital things to say about this development on the Godbeat — so go read his post below already if you haven’t done so now. Still, a major development has room for more than one us here at GR to comment on, even if Tmatt is a tough act to follow.
Ben Nelson is facing some bad news back home in Nebraska after he switched his vote to support the Senate’s health care bill. A Rasmussen survey shows 55 percent of Nebraska voters now hold an unfavorable view of Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012, while 40 percent view him favorably. So Nelson took to the airwaves during the University of Nebraska’s Holiday Bowl on Wednesday to defend his position, but some reporters seem to forget what started it all: abortion.
Last week I read a Washington Post article about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man charged with attempting to bomb a flight to Detroit. In the same way that some media coverage of Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan explored his mental state, this Post article took the clinical approach with Abdulmutallab. Like Hasan, he was lonely and wanted to find a wife.
