Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
One is ordinary. Two is coincidence. But three is a growing trend — be it three teenagers with nose rings, three soccer moms supporting the same political candidate or three pastors tweeting from the pulpit.
A few months ago, we covered the free speech campaign called “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” This was the campaign launched by a Seattle cartoonist who was disappointed in Comedy Central’s censorship of a South Park cartoon that, well, didn’t depict Muhammad. But it came too close for comfort and the media network engaged in censorship. Reason Magazine ended up picking up the ball and running with it and you can see the winners of the contest there, as well as some great discussion of the back story.
So, have you read any interesting stories about Mel Gibson lately? If so, has the word “traditionalist” made an appearance in these texts?
A few weeks ago, there was a bit of a discussion on the internets about whether the mainstream media does a good job of covering honor killings in America. It began with Phyllis Chesler writing:
The smartest piece I’ve read so far about the Twilight phenomenon, was Caitlin Flanagan’s essay for The Atlantic. To date, I haven’t read the books or seen the movies, but my Mormon upbringing has made me somewhat attuned to a subject that otherwise is primarily of interest to adolescent females. Anyway, here’s Flanagan’s take on the books’ religion and morals:
My views are simple. Political: Sober. Religious: Well … actually that’s not so simple. My Facebook profile suggests as much. There I say that I’m a “God-fearing Christian with devilishly good Jewish looks.”
So there’s a new movie coming out about the legendary (and I do mean legendary) female Pope of the 9th Century — Joan. It’s the job of movie directors to use good stories rather than tell accurate accounts of history. But we should expect more accuracy in media coverage. Let’s see how it’s going.
Another gem from the Godbeat at the Los Angeles Times. If you didn’t pick up on my sarcasm, here’s a post from last week about the litany of bad religion stories that have been coming forth from Spring Street.
A telephone rings in The New York Times’ Big Apple newsroom. It’s a Los Angeles correspondent calling with a righteously humorous scoop on the California state budget crisis.
