Journalists and Religion

As a budding journalist, one of my main fears is going into the big bad world of the mainstream media and losing sight of what is most important to me: my faith. However, after this presentation and the reading, I feel comforted in knowing that being religious and being  a journalist doesn't have to be an oxymoron.

In the book the author mentioned that religion can provide an invaluable context like nothing else can on certain issues. For example, the controversial film The Passion of the Christ raised many eyebrows because of its violence and because of its so-called "anti-Semitic" tone. Journalists seemed to only focus on those aspects, and not on the reasons for the film's success among many Christians. A great story would have been to go to a local theater and get audience reactions to the film. An in-depth look at the film's spiritual impact on people of faith would have been a story that could have developed out of all the controversy, and maybe shed some more positive light on the film, rather than on the negative. I think the mainstream media's rejection of religion is a sign of where our world is headed, and personally I believe their criticism of The Passion of the Christ shows just how scared many in journalism are of religion and faith.

As a Latter-day Saint, I understand it is important for me to check my personal beliefs at the door when covering a story on the Church. I see this on KSL frequently. I know some of the reporters on KSL personally, and am always interested to see how their being Mormon does not interfere with them reporting the facts. Controversial issues surrounding the Church are normally not sugar-coated, but they are reported as thoroughly as possible (in most cases).

The following article gives some interesting tips on covering religion:

http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat

Religion's presence in the lifestyles of many people constitutes more coverage of religious subjects in journalism. The following article discusses this:

http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=793