Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
A federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration this week to make the Plan B “morning-after” birth control pill available over the counter to girls aged 17. It was already available over the counter to women aged 18 and older.
Death and dying are intricately tied to the subjects of God, religion and faith. The Los Angeles Times made this clear earlier this week in its detailed look at why some statistics show that cancer patients deemed terminally ill requested intensive, but useless medical treatment, such as breathing machines, at a much higher rate if their faith was a significant factor in the their medical decision.
On the same day that Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput was critiquing media coverage of the church, we got a real time example of some less-than-stellar religion reporting. Pope Benedict XVI landed in Africa this week and received breathless coverage because, as Amy Welborn put it over at Beliefnet, “the Pope has not booked a seat on the condom train.”
There was one part of a Rasmussen poll about President Barack Obama’s decision to expand stem cell research that destroys embryos that I found particularly interesting:
It’s would be very hard to write a feature-length obituary for an internationally known Roman Catholic priest while avoiding religious images and content.
I am of the opinion that what drives some media narratives is less overt bias than a love for drama that pits one protagonist against another in competition for the lowest common denominator. But most people don’t live their daily lives on protest lines, or suing one another, or testifying before Congress.
Since we’ve been looking at so many bad examples of journalism about embryonic stem cell research, it might be worth looking at one paper that has been doing a bit better.
Time had one of the more embarrassing stories on President Barack Obama’s decision to use taxpayer dollars to fund stem cell research that destroys embryos. Alice Park’s gushy mash note to Obama and his decision is just not up to snuff. I mean, with lines such as “The sigh of relief in labs across the country was almost audible,” you should know you’re not dealing with journalism:
This is one of those days when it’s easy to see why The Politico keeps making mainstream media people — a key cog in Democratic Party conversations — so nervous here in Washington, D.C. The new kids inside the Beltway continue to produce stories that stray way outside the borders of the establishment talking points.
