Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
What we have here is your basic story about idealistic interns who have come to Washington, D.C., to learn how to make a difference in this complex and troubled world — only with one big twist.
Louisville Courier-Journal religion writer Peter Smith always does a nice job of covering national stories at the local level or showing the broader significance of local stories. For years he has covered the lawsuit against the Vatican (we’ve discussed NPR coverage here) by a once-local man who said he was sexually abused by a Louisville priest in 1928.
When I have time, I browse the Newseum’s front-page images from major newspapers across the nation. It’s interesting to see how different papers play various stories, and from time to time, I run across stories that make perfect GetReligion fodder.
Anyone who has lived in Texas knows that there are times when it seems that there are more Baptists inside the Lone Star state then there are people. When it comes to politics, separation of Baptists and state remains a vital issue.
This weekend, President Obama gave a First Amendment defense of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. The next day he made a point of noting that he wasn’t addressing the “wisdom” of building a mosque at the site. One of those two statements probably angered most people but I appreciate his comments and that distinction — noting that there are two discussions going on right now.
Anyone who is part of the GetReligion community likely has a few pet peeves about media coverage. We joke about the need for a GetScience, GetMath and GetStatistics to complement GetReligion.
American obituary writers have nothing on the Brits, where you may be excused for thinking you’re reading a roast rather than a tribute. I’m glad we have a more respectful tradition, but sometimes the obit can come off a bit dry. But this obituary in the Los Angeles Times was a captivating read. It tells some highlights of the story of Robert Aitken‘s life. One of the first Americans to be “fully sanctioned” as a master of Zen Buddhism, Robert Baker Aitken Roshi died last week at the age of 93. Elaine Woo began with his significance to the community:
Truth be told, I had already decided to take a second look at the faith ghosts in the coverage of the death of screen legend Patricia Neal before I read the following from Deacon John M. Bresnahan, a conservative Catholic who is a regular in our comments pages.
