Politics

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Papal politics or piety?

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Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a story about how the Vatican handled abuse claims against the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the founder of the worldwide order Legionnaires of Christ. The story, which focuses on Vatican politics, hasn’t gotten as much play as the previous Times story attempting to link Pope Benedict XVI to an abuse case in Wisconsin. But this story also focuses on then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s role in handling the many claims against Father Maciel.


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You don't look a day over 50

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The birth control pill turned 50 this year. Time magazine celebrated the anniversary with a 5,000-word look at the sociological history of its development and use. And I have to say that while the piece reads a bit like a love letter to 1960s feminism, author Nancy Gibbs discussed religion and values throughout the piece. This seems like the obvious thing to do when talking about something related to sex and procreation — but we all know how many reporters would avoid including religion in the discussion.


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How to write a bad story

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Every reporter has his off days. I have to think that’s what happened with this story, which ran on page 1 of Jacksonville’s Florida Times-Union. Written by an award-winning religion reporter, Jeff Brumley, the piece seems to take an almost personal interest in disparaging evangelicals. It’s kind of odd. Here’s the headline:


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A New York Times red herring

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When the New York Times ran a story about the Vatican response to a particularly horrendous case of child sexual abuse by a priest, many observers felt that the Times should have explained a bit more about Jeff Anderson, a primary source for the piece. So, for instance, here is Bill McGurn taking the story’s author — Laurie Goodstein — to task in a Wall Street Journal column from earlier this month. She’d described Anderson as a lawyer:


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CNN: Don't reproduce or multiply

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I know CNN fancies itself as a serious news source relative to other cablers, but imbalanced stories such as this one don’t exactly help them int he claim. In a puffy piece that ran on Earth Day, we got this advice on how to have a “green” love life:


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Politics colored glasses

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Maybe it’s the nature of the beast that when you write a profile of the House chaplain, you have to give the run-down between who appointed who after who got mad at who. But it would be nice to see fewer stories that come out of Washington filtered through an almost completely political lens.


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The dangerous prayers of Mike Allen

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Anyone who wants to know how seriously The Politico has disturbed the MSM principalities and powers need only click here and read the massive (go get a beverage) New York Times Magazine profile of the cyberscribe Mike “Playbook” Allen, the human alarm clock who helps drive life here inside the Beltway.


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Old West -- er, Old Testament -- justice?

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While with The Oklahoman, I covered the state prison system for a while and served as a media witness for three or four executions (yes, it’s sad to say I can’t remember which, but as a reporter, I tried not to dwell on such experiences).


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