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 do not expect a second wave of Steve Jobs religion coverage at this stage of the game, even with the fascinating, almost civil religion tone of the official Apple memorial service.
Last week we looked at some of the few stories about Muammar Gadafhi’s death that engaged religion angles. This past weekend, the religion angle became unavoidable.
âIn miracles we are dealing . . . with the unreal world of fairy-tale,” Matthew Arnold wrote over 125 years ago in God and the Bible. An observer of the BBC’s religion reporting would not be wrong in concluding the Corporation follows this general line, treating faith with a modicum of skepticism.
A few weeks ago, I spotted a pair of TOMS in Goodwill. Knowing the shoes run anywhere from around $50 to $100, it seemed like a cultural moment where the trendy shoes have made it into a second-hand store.
As I write this, Tim Tebow is three for five in the passing department for a total of 24 yards early in his start for the Denver Broncos against the Miami Dolphins. He has not, to my knowledge, parted the waters off South Beach or performed any miraculous act (unless there was a healing in the pre-game ceremonies).
The New York World, a Columbia Journalism School publication, had a big story last week about how a Brooklyn bus line segregates its passengers according to sex. It was picked up by the New York Times the next day:
Back in 2007, the divine Mrs. M.Z. Hemingway headed to the doctor for a perfectly ordinary reason. However, there was a twist in the plot that she described in a highly personal post entitled, “Brave New World,” which focused on a New York Times science story. Her post started like this:
The terrible story out of China of a toddler run over by a van as she wandered alone through a market has seen extensive news coverage. As two-year old Yue Yue lay in the street badly injured, a security camera recorded 18 people passing by before a woman stopped to help. There has been an outpouring of outrage on blogs and social media, some of it prompted by the passers-by making excuses for their behavior.
One of those news outlets that does consistently great religion coverage, most of it of the global variety, is Reuters. Its Faith World blog is one of the best ways to stay on top of big news from around the world. Case in point — this fascinating story about Macedonians being pressured to convert to Islam in Pakistan. Elswhere on Reuters is a good discussion of how newsrooms should approach graphic image distribution when it comes to showing the corpses of men who’ve died as Moammar Gadhafi did. (Confused about all the spellings for Gadhafi? See here.)
