It's the talk of the Godbeat — that small fraternity of journalists who cover religion news.
I'm referring to a podcast interview that Sandi Villarreal, chief digital officer for Sojourners, did with two writers from The Atlantic.
Here's a description of the 33-minute discussion:
On today's episode, our web editor sits down with Emma Green and McKay Coppins — both political reporters (with a religion bent) for The Atlantic — to chat about the state of religion reporting in mainstream media and how The Atlantic approaches the Godbeat. We talk about the challenges and opportunities, we break some news, and we give a hefty plug for the Religion News Association.
Both of those Atlantic writers' names will sound familiar to news consumers who follow the Godbeat closely. Some GetReligion readers may recall that Coppins, who is Mormon, formerly worked for Buzzfeed. Just recently, I praised Green's story on two Mississippi college students who decided to join the Islamic State terrorist group as a "must read." (Of course, GR has offered constructive criticism, too, for The Atlantic.)
Among the fans of this podcast (which seems almost GetReligion-esque): Bob Smietana, the veteran religion writer and former president of the Religion News Association.
Speaking of Smietana, he was involved in his own GR-like podcast just recently:
But I digress ...
Back to the Sojourners podcast: Given the subject matter and the discussion it's sparked on social media, I felt compelled to share a few of the tweets that caught my attention. Here goes:
Anyway, if you're the type of person who reads GetReligion — and obviously you are if you made it this far — this podcast is worth a listen.
Finally, I want to thank Bob Smietana for inadvertently writing most of my post for me today. I'll buy him lunch next time I'm in Nashville!