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Cult? Sect? Folks from a strange church?

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Let’s face it, the mainstream press did everything but cue the theme from “Jaws” this weekend, during the initial coverage of the strange news out of Palmdale, Calif. Consider the top of this early New York Times report, which ran under a rather ordinary headline about a “religious group.”


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Missing the tragic details

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For such a dramatic story, the New York Times headline does not do justice to a recent tragedy in the local news: “Bronx Church Mourns Death of Its Leader.” The pastor, his wife and four congregants from the Bronx were killed when their church van flipped several times.


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News about Newman

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On the final day of his United Kingdom trip, Pope Benedict XVI formally beatified English theologian and apologist Cardinal John Henry Newman. Let’s look at some of the stories about Newman. NPR’s excellent religion reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty had a piece speculating that Newman was gay. I thought it a completely bizarre approach for the main story the news outlet chose to report on the man.


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Oh, those suspects in alleged pope threat

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The news coverage, so far, about the alleged threat of violence against Pope Benedict XVI has been cautious to the max — as it should be.


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5Q+1: Manya Brachear as Chicago's 'Seeker'

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During my five years in the Chicago suburbs and a summer internship at a Sun-Times-owned paper, I began to understand just how complicated Chicagoland is to cover. Covering religion in the country’s third largest city is no small task, and religion reporter for the Chicago Tribune Manya Brachear tackles it head on.


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