It is one of the cardinal rules of journalism: All news is local.
Lite in the darkness
In a recent USA TODAY story, Cathy Lynn Grossman tracks an interesting trend: the flourishing of Advent prayers and celebrations among non-liturgical Christians.
Coming to a pub near you?
I don’t know about you, but out here in the Philadelphia exurbs we are in the grip of the kind of crisis that brings the area to its knees– about four more inches of snow than apparently anyone expected.
May her memory be eternal
The theological term is “theodicy,” and, as I have said before, this concept is woven into many religion-news stories for at least two good reasons.
Stealing from God's house
Earlier this month in the midst of election craziness, The Detroit News took what could have been a simple crime story about a rash of church robberies and interlaced the article with theological themes, historical trends and even sociological explanations.
When in doubt, quote the believers
For those of you who are looking for prime examples of the “big ideas” that motivate us at this here weblog, here’s one.
Explaining excommunication
A few days ago we looked at some decent media coverage of a Roman Catholic Womenpriests story. A few more stories worth looking at have been filed or discovered.
Journalism about Womenpriests
We have noted the generally weak coverage of Roman Catholic Womenpriests so it’s worth noting a publication that did better. The New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote about the looming excommunication of an actual Roman Catholic priest who participated in a Roman Catholic Womenpriests ceremony.
Religion disappears from narrative
Compared to the primary election, the subject of the religion and faith of Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama’s has largely been absent from the pages of Midwestern newspapers and magazines. Some of this can be justified by the fact that the Midwest is reeling in an economic slump that is seeing people threatened with the loss of their jobs and homes and the collapse of the auto industry and other manufacturing industries that make up a substantial portion of the region’s economy. People want to hear the candidates talk about their economic plans more than their spiritual backgrounds.
