Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
For better or for worse, the Westboro Baptist church does make headlines and there is no end in sight. Thus, it’s incumbent upon folks in the press to ask some questions about how this congregation operates. (We’ve been doing that a lot more of than usual this week.)
Most great stories feature a compelling good guy and a nasty bad guy, the kind of villain that likes to tear down good people and places. It also helps if the story includes some giant, transcendent symbol that is in danger of being destroyed.
GetReligion readers, I have a question for you. How many of you are part of religious congregations that have ended up in the news? Perhaps even more than once?
If you’re a baseball purist, imagine a metro daily publishing a full-length story about the designated-hitter rule and quoting only those who favor it. If you thought “American Idol” was better with Paula Abdul as a judge, imagine a major media report that interviews only fans who believe Ellen DeGeneres is God’s gift to reality TV. Would either piece impress you as quality journalism?
As is often the case, the mainstream press was handed a fascinating church-state separation case today and didn’t seem to realize it. Here’s the top of the A1 report in the Washington Post:
When I attended Wheaton College, one of the schools with an exemption so athletes aren’t forced to play varsity sports on Sunday, there was speculation the NCAA repeatedly scheduled one talented Wheaton athlete to meet the toughest opponent in the playoffs. With an early Wheaton exit, the NCAA could avoid having to reschedule its remaining postseason matchups.
Let me be frank with you: I do not know quite what to make of a recent story in The Oklahoman about a bitter fight in a local Catholic church about — brace yourself — an allegedly obscene crucifix.
Whenever I speak at Christian colleges and universities, I always find flocks of students who, when I ask them to name their dream full-time jobs, stress that they want to cover topics linked to entertainment, not hard news.
In a story involving 30-plus reporters around the world, The Associated Press produced what it billed as a major scoop. The headline on the Yahoo! version declared:
