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Sally Quinn, the atheist who professed knowing “practically nothing about religion or the internet” when she started the Washington Post/Newsweek religion site On Faith, had a curious admission in her most recent piece. Her essay is about how the news of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy will affect religious voters. She begins by admitting that Sen. John McCain’s pick of Gov. Sarah Palin angered her.
In the spring, I encouraged reporters to write about the California Supreme Court’s decision to redefine marriage from the viewpoint of religious traditionalists and not just religious liberals and seculars. So I was happy to come across a recent story in The Los Angeles Times with the headline of “California churches plan a big push against same-sex marriage.” Finally, I thought, on this issue reporters were getting traditional religion.
The major news magazines’ coverage of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s religiosity was more like that found in newspapers than, well, magazines. It contained a few facts but no explanations. While there were a couple of exceptions to this trend, those exceptions are instructive.
I’m still in Denver recovering from the awesome experience of covering the Democratic National Convention. I have no idea how reporters can work this hard and with these long hours and then turn around and do it all again next week in St. Paul.
To tell you the truth, I don’t have much to say about the press coverage of the religion elements of Sen. Barack Obama’s speech from the mountaintop (of course, Denver is located on the high plains, but you know what I mean). I don’t have much to say because the mainstream press doesn’t have much to say about the topic.
A few weeks ago, I criticized a New York Times story about Sen. Bob Casey, Jr.’s expected speech at the Democratic convention partly on the grounds that the story failed to specify its nature. Would Casey address his opposition to legal abortion or some other topic, such as the economy or Barack Obama’s skills on the basketball court? The story never said.
Since Daniel noted Nancy Pelosi’s attempt at a Roman Catholic theological defense of abortion, bishops throughout the country have given her a bit of a beatdown.
On Wednesday The Chicago Tribune turned its pages over to advocacy journalism representing the unfortunate attitude that the West knows best, and the “poorer parts of the world” must conform to the rules established by modern experts to keep the world from falling into a state of calamity. This article by the Tribune‘s London correspondent Laurie Goering proclaims that everyone should have fewer children (though it fails to provide the precise number) in order to prevent global warming and keep the planet from over-populating.
Three days into an ongoing, national story, the Washington Post noticed that something has been happening between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and several key U.S. Catholic bishops.
