Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
Over the years National Public Radio (NPR) has found a niche among listeners who want in-depth reports on complex issues. Their offbeat radio essays offer a sometimes idiosyncratic alternative to those who want more diverse fare than “news radio” and cable news may offer.
If you search the World Wide Web for the name of Father Kevin G. Thew Forrester and the word “bishop,” you will find that an ocean of digital ink has been spilled in coverage of the bishop-elect of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan. However, once again, you will find that this is apparently a “conservative” news story, with most of the “news” reports running in alternative, conservative publications and stirring up responses in advocacy media on the left.
Johann Hari, who made news earlier this month with his interview of Tony Blair, has written a 5,000-word profile of Andrew Sullivan for Intelligent Life, a magazine published by The Economist. The story is filled with glowing praise and unquestioning assertions of Sullivan’s crucial importance:
Anyone who respects good religion coverage in the mainstream media has to shed a tear for the fast-disappearing City Section of the New York Times, which is down to eight pages today and will soon vanish both on paper and on line. The heart of the section, which circulates only in the New York area, are the Neighborhood Reports that cover events, people and places not normally covered in a big city newspaper.
One must really think through this article from the San Francisco Chronicle about some students, disciplined for praying in a college faculty’s office, being permitted to sue the college for violating their free speech rights. The story’s problem, and this may not be the newspaper’s fault, is that there seems to be little to no explanation for why the college attempted to punish the students in the first place.
The debate about Newsweek’s cover story of a few weeks ago by editor Jon Meacham, “The End of Christian America,” continues to intrigue journalists both across the pond (as noted earlier this week) and over here. When an opinion column addresses a topic we’ve covered (numerous times) then we consider it worth a mention.
Can you believe it was seven years ago that Attorney General John Ashcroft was outed for covering up the statues of the naked ladies in the Department of Justice building? He apparently didn’t like being photographed in front of the statues (representing “The Spirit of Justice”) when he gave speeches and press conferences. It was major news and, as a result, fodder for weeks of late night talk show jokes.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, Newsweek has published a poignant but sloppy story about two pastors scarred by the experience. The contrasts are strong:
This is Holy Week in the ancient Orthodox churches of the East, which means that today is Good Friday and, just before midnight on Saturday, we will begin the lengthy and glorious rites of Pascha, which is called Easter in the West. This is our feast of feasts and follows and lengthy march through 40 or so unique services of preparation.
