One of the things I wish more reporters had the opportunity to do is be interviewed by other reporters. I’ve had my share of experiences being on the other end of the pad and pen. In some cases, the reporter is thorough and takes the time to really understand what you are saying. I’ve also been misquoted, which is an absolutely horrifying experience. In one case, I was misquoted to say the opposite of what I was actually saying. I called the reporter to complain and she yelled at me. I mean, really!
In the witch's closet
Ever since the so-called New Age era, I have been interested in the rise of Wicca and the whole neopagan scene. This trend raises all kinds of interesting issues of coven and state (Do conservative Christians really want equal access laws?), and you really can’t talk about faith in popular culture, especially Hollywood, without dealing with the new consumer-friendly forms of paganism.
Justice Kennedy: A mysterious gap
All week long (while the Jerry Falwell coverage rolled on, with good reason) I have been puzzled about a strange story that I read in The Washington Post. Allow me to flash back.
When choice and diversity collide
It was just a week ago that we looked at New York Times reporter Amy Harmon’s story on genetic testing of fetuses. She wrote that some parents of children with Down syndrome are lobbying other parents not to abort their children with Down syndrome. The story, which was very well done, left me hungry for more coverage of genetic testing issues.
Try a little Hume
Anthony Gottlieb’s New Yorker essay on contemporary atheists came to my attention earlier this week through that magazine’s much-improved website. I did not want to write about Gottlieb’s essay before receiving the issue in the mail, largely because I wanted to be sure of his current connections. Internet searches turned up articles that placed him with The Economist, but those were all a few years old.
Who is chanting 'Go, Fred, go'?
There are plenty of reasons to believe that an unnamed candidate could generate substantial interest in the Republican Party, particularly among the evangelical voters. The current crop of main tier candidates has been disappointing to them, and they are yearning for a candidate with whom they can fall in love. At least that’s the story line that journalists have been giving us lately.
She blinded me with history
Newsweek‘s Lisa Miller wrote an article for the May 21 issue that looks at the new book on Jesus by Pope Benedict XVI. Newsweek apparently had an exclusive excerpt of the book and Miller did an article about the book’s meaning, a portion of which dealt with Jesus’ baptism:
Falwell and the muddled majority
Let’s not bury the lede: I have been surprised and pleased by the excellence of the mainstream media coverage of the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s death. I think it is crucial that, because his power has faded so much, journalists were able to step back and evaluate his life with less venom.
More than a politico
The general consensus in the day-after coverage of the passing of the Rev. Jerry Falwell has been that he ignited the political movement that is today known as the religious right. Here’s Stephanie Simon of the Los Angeles Times:
