Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
I’ve been wondering whether the tea party has somewhat replaced religious conservatives in some of the 2012 presidential election coverage, but maybe it’s too soon to tell. After all, if someone like former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney or former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee gets the nomination, we probably will see quite a bit of religion coverage.
Massive layoffs at mainline denominational headquarters. The local Episcopal diocese just sold off several lovely sanctuaries.
Every now and then, GetReligion runs a post that allows readers to comment about their personal beliefs while also addressing core journalism issues. That doesn’t happen very often, but sometimes you can do both.
I spent much of the week on a reporting trip to Sin City. When my wife and 11-year-old daughter picked me up at the Oklahoma City airport Friday, my little girl wanted to talk about the big news of the day.
Have you seen those “I’m a Mormon” ads that are, well, everywhere I seem to go on the internet? They’re always the “recommended” YouTube video that pops up when I sign on to show my children pictures of cats or whatever.
Once again, let me stress that I know that newspapers and magazines are going to have to receive payments — somehow — for the work they produce. It’s hard to keep giving your product away day after day and stay in business.
So 25,000 words on religion — from The New Yorker–makes me pretty giddy. OK, it’s about Scientology, which continues to keep journalists fascinated for its celebrity draw and secrecy. But hopefully this kind of piece shows how religion can make really compelling journalism. You’ll find a little bit of everything in this piece: celebrities, money, abuse, family, sex, power, etc. Religion often touches all of that and more.
Believe it or not, St. Valentine’s Day was not created by the people who sell chocolates, flowers and strange jewelry. And, believe it or not, the rites that used to be celebrated in churches on Feb. 14 focused on a hero and martyr, not the alleged patron saint of lovers.
Check out this lede from the Daily Texan story that ran under the headline, “Conservative Christians divorce more, study says.” It’s almost an exact replica of how the mainstream media covered a porn study a few years back. Here’s how this sad example of a divorce story gets started:
